What am I going to do with my interior design degree?

by Posh Living, LLC

Question by : What am I going to do with my interior design degree?
I love interior design and have chosen it as my major at the university I am attending. I don’t know how I’m going to use it, however, considering I live in a small town in NC where no one is going to care about interior design. Where could I move too, and would I have to start a business? I have no idea how to become successful in the design business. NO idea. Which is making me second guess my decision to major in this.

Best answer:

Answer by Joyce A
I’m not sure you are correct when you say “no one is going to care about interior design.” A lot of people, in large cities and small towns alike, care about their homes and have the money to spend on them. You just have to find the right clientele. You don’t have to limit yourself to the small town – you could branch out within a radius of say 50 or so miles.

You could work in a design firm or partner with someone in a business. There is a great demand now for home staging, with people trying to sell their homes for top dollar in a housing market slump.
Room re-designs are popular, too. Some people want to work with what they already have rather than buy all new stuff. If are diversified in your talents – that is, if you could work with someone using what they already own and a low budget, as well as design for the client where the “sky’s the limit” with no budget, you’d be in good shape. Later, as you work in the field, you would be able to identify your niche and determine just how you want to roll.

You could be a consultant and charge by the hour to give people advice on how to decorate their homes. This could be quite profitable, since a lot of clients would be willing to pay $ 100 an hour to have a professional give them guidance. You could structure your services to include design boards, personal shopping, sourcing, etc.

I don’t have a degree in decorating or design, but I have always wanted to help people decorate on a budget. I’d like to pick things at consignment shops or thrift stores that would look great in their homes. I’d like to refinish and repurpose pieces and make them into something special. I am unable to do this due to poor health, but I’ve always thought it would be a popular service. A blogger, Rashon Carraway, does this. His blog is Mr. Goodwill Hunting. Rashon has been on Nate Berkus several times, doing budget makeovers. He shops a lot at Goodwill, hence his website name.

I think it’s a good field. I think you just need to find your specialty. There are many ways you could use your degree.

What do you think? Answer below!