There are a number of options for someone who wishes to study interior design. People interested in exploring careers as interior designers can access a large market of needy customers ranging from homeowners who want to spruce up their homes to corporations looking for an interior designer to create a pleasing interior design scheme in their offices. This field is constantly growing, especially in urban areas, making employment prospects very good.
One of the classic ways to study interior design is to attend an art school and receive a bachelor or master of arts degree with a focus in interior design. Interior design programs at art schools provide a great deal of information for students, ranging from a study of the history of design to information about fabricating custom elements for a design scheme. An art school degree can make an entry level interior designer much more employable with major firms, providing more opportunities for professional advancement.
Some trade schools and technical schools also offer opportunities for people who want to study interior design. These programs can include internship opportunities with interior design firms to give students practical experience, and they tend to have a lower cost than art schools. However, they are not as comprehensive, and they may not include as much education in the history of design and in general aesthetic topics. Home study courses are also available for people who may have difficulty attending a school to study interior design.
Some interior designers learn through apprenticeship, which is another option for someone who wants to study interior design. Apprentices usually have a natural flair for design, and they may have a background in architecture or the arts. Working with a supervisor, they gradually acquire more independent skills which eventually allow them to work as full-fledged interior designers. Apprentices usually do extra studying on their own time, reading books which cover the theory, practice, and history of interior design so that they acquire depth of knowledge in addition to practical skills.
Some careers for someone who wants to study interior design include real estate staging, in which interior designers dress up properties for sale to make them more appealing, along with interior design for homeowners, hotels, and commercial properties. Interior designers may opt to work in a particular style, such as modern interior design, establishing a name for themselves as the go-to professionals for people who are interested in specific approaches to interior design.