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Interior Designers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Plan, design, and furnish the internal space of rooms or buildings. Design interior environments or create physical layouts that are practical, aesthetic, and conducive to the intended purposes. May specialize in a particular field, style, or phase of interior design.

Related: Commercial & Industrial Designers Craft Artists Fashion Designers Landscape Architects Set & Exhibit Designers

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical Retail

Summary
Details

Plan and design interior environments for boats, planes, buses, trains, and other enclosed spaces.
Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.
Research and explore the use of new materials, technologies, and products to incorporate into designs.
Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items.
Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning of interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, purpose, and function.
Design spaces to be environmentally friendly, using sustainable, recycled materials when feasible.
Design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).
Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.
Research health and safety code requirements to inform design.
Research health and safety code requirements to inform design.
Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.
Review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.
Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents.
Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings.
Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art work, and accessories.
Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art work, and accessories.
Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.

Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

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.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
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.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
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.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

79490/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

38.21/hr

Currently Employed

2,330

Yearly Projected Openings

240

Artistic: People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules. They do well at jobs that need:

Attention to Detail
Integrity
Dependability
Cooperation
Adaptability/Flexibility
Initiative

Desktop computers
Digital camcorders or video cameras
Digital cameras
Graphics or video accelerator cards
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Plotter printers
Print servers
Protractors
Scales
Scanners
T squares
Tablet computers
Tape measures
Triangles

Computer aided design CAD software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Project management software
Spreadsheet software
Video creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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Interior Designers

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