Decorating everything from homes to hotels might sound like a fun way to make a living, but how do you know whether or not you’d be good at it? If you’re considering a creative career and wondering if you have what it takes to make a go of it as a professional interior designer, here are ten signs you’re on the right track:
You mentally rearrange the furniture every time you enter a new space. Have you ever walked into a room and realized instantly that the flow was all wrong, and all it would take to fix the situation would be to tweak the furniture arrangement? If this sounds like you, interior space planning projects may come naturally to you. With the right education, you could hone this skill and advise people on where their existing furniture should go, or what additional pieces they may need to finish out a space.
You troll Craigslist looking for a piece of furniture you can makeover just for the sake of transforming something. Hands down, one of the most satisfying parts of a career in interior design is the pride of taking something ugly and making it pretty. If you like being part of that transformative process, you’ll probably love doing it every day as a professional interior designer.
You think other designers have gotten it wrong. Have you ever seen a makeover show on TV and thought, “I could do better than that!” Pay attention to these thoughts — they uncover a source of inner confidence that can propel you toward a successful career path in interior design.
You’re a puzzler. Do you enjoy figuring out how things work, solving a puzzle, or brainstorming solutions to a problem? This is a designer’s job in a nutshell. If this sort of thing floats your boat, you’ll love the creative challenge of solving clients’ many design dilemmas.
You’re a bridge builder. Are you the glue that holds your family or a group of friends together? If so, you may have the skills to help couples merge their different tastes and design styles — something an interior designer is frequently called upon to do.
You love the hunt. If shopping is a sport to you, or if you feel a rush of victory when you find the perfect tile to update your kitchen backsplash, you may be perfectly suited to a career in interior design.
You’re a fan of many decorating styles. Most of us only have one home, and few of us lack the budget to reinvent the wheel over and over again where our home furnishings are concerned. Being a professional designer allows you to express all of the different decorating styles within you and furnish an endless number of houses without spending a dime of your own money. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too!
Friends come to you for decorating advice. Have any of your friends or family members ever walked into your home, taken a look around and said, “Man, I wish you’d come over to my house — I need your design help!” Your house doesn’t have to be outfitted to the nines for people to know that it just “feels right.” This natural ability of yours is worth exploring — especially if you enjoyed the decorating process.
You’re confident in your own creativity. If you’re one of those people who was always labeled as “creative,” even as a child, it goes without saying that a creative profession is undoubtedly your calling.
People confide in you. If you find that people — especially strangers or any person you’ve just begun some sort of relationship with — tend to share personal information with you, you’re someone people feel instantly connected to and trust. Believe it or not, this quality nearly beats out creativity or design sense where an interior designer’s career is concerned. Trust and a sense of personal connection are key components to the client-designer relationship. Without that, people don’t feel comfortable allowing another person to make decisions where their home and budget are concerned.
These personality traits are common among successful interior designers. If reading this list feels like reading your own bio, interior design courses are probably worth pursuing.
