If you’re interested in studying interior design but not sure how to get started, it’s important to research interior design schools to see what seems like the best fit for you.
We receive lots of questions about NYIAD’s online interior design course- from how the online learning center works and how long it takes to graduate- to how much experience in design students need in order to get started. Here are some of our students and grads to give you aspiring designers a look at what our students are like, and how they’re able to fit creative education into their lives.
Meet Jacqueline Clair:
Jacqueline is the creative mind behind the popular interior design, photography, and lifestyle blog, York Avenue. Based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Jackie shares her adventures in decorating a small Manhattan home and discovering everything New York City has to offer. Through her photography of beautiful neighborhoods, parks, and must-trys, Jackie also developed a passion for creating stunning visual imagery, and works part time as a freelance photographer in addition to her full-time job. We stumbled upon her blog after she enrolled in our Interior Design course and started documenting the student experience in her posts. On balancing a busy lifestyle with studying, she shares:
“You’re given 18 months to complete the course. For someone working full-time, I’d say that’s accurate. If you really want to bang it out and devote a lot of time to it, you could finish it in a year. It depends on you and how fast you want to finish! My feeling is, it’s not a crazy amount of coursework, so you could probably finish in 6 months or a year if you wanted to! It’s getting through Powerpoint type slides, which have pretty big fonts…not slogging through chapters and chapters of textbooks.”
Meet Sandra Mijan:
Sandra Mijan has been drawn to interior design since she was 5 years old, when she remembers mentally rearranging and redecorating rooms. When she was 20 years old, her family moved from Yugoslavia to the United States as refugees. After completing years of ESL classes and then a dental assisting course, she started a full time job at an orthodontist’s office. But she says there was no passion to her work. It was just a job.
Thankfully, in December of 2015, Sandra enrolled at NYIAD’s interior design course. Graduating about a year later, she was able to open her own independent interior design business, completing projects all across the spectrum of design- from a ballroom renovation and hair salon redesign, to residential clients and color consultations. On why she decided to enroll at NYIAD, she shares:
“My (interior design) business was started as a side job back in the end of 2015. I was learning it all myself- by reading books and blogs and listening to people that are already in the business, attending markets, etc. I felt something was still missing, and took quite some time to decide what program was right for me. I wanted to learn history, process and fundamentals of design, as well as earning academic qualification. After long research and deliberation, NYIAD seemed like it was delivering it all. Not to mention the price of a course is reasonable as well as the timeline given, so I could manage family, work and school.”
Meet Lauren Liess:
For those who aren’t familiar, Lauren Liess is the co-host of HGTV’s television series, Best House on the Block- and we’re super proud to say that she received her interior design education at NYIAD! When Liess originally enrolled in NYIAD's interior design program, she says she was looking for a curriculum that infused fun, hands-on projects every step of the way.
"I chose this school because it seemed straightforward, all-encompassing and fun,” she shares. “I really loved it, and was able to start my business from what I learned.”
If you're interested in our online interior design program, consider taking advantage our risk-free policy by giving it a try for 14 days. You can enroll in the course, get started, and spend some time deciding if it seems like the right fit for you and your schedule. And if it's not for you- simply give us a call and we'll cancel the enrollment and refund every penny. Click here for more information.
