Interior Designers

Wages
In 2015, the average annual wage in a Alabama was $46,970 with most people making betweeen $17,730 and $91,360
Wages by Industry
  • Specialized Design Services $52,430.00
  • Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services $56,520.00
  • Furniture Stores $48,870.00
  • Building Material and Supplies Dealers $42,060.00
  • Residential Building Construction $48,320.00
  • Home Furnishings Stores $39,840.00
Education Required
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Common Majors
  • Interior Architecture
  • Interior Design
  • Facilities Planning and Management
  • Textile Science
About the job

Plan, design, and furnish interiors of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. Formulate design which is practical, aesthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity, selling merchandise, or improving life style. May specialize in a particular field, style, or phase of interior design.

What you'll do
    • Advise client on interior design factors such as space planning, layout and utilization of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
    • Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.
    • Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.
    • Formulate environmental plan to be practical, esthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity or selling merchandise.
    • Plan and design interior environments for boats, planes, buses, trains, and other enclosed spaces.
    • Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings.
    • Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.
    • Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art works, and accessories.
    • Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items.
    • Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents.
Things you need to know
    • Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
    • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Building and Construction - Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
    • Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Abilities you'll need to have
    • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
    • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
    • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
    • Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
    • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
    • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
    • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.