How to become an Interior Designer without going to school? It is no doubt becoming an Interior Designer is exciting and something to be proud of. However, for some of you, spending over thousands of dollars ($3,000-$20,000USD+) and 2-5+ years of full time interior design training at a College or University may not be the most ideal or practical. Therefore, becoming an Interior Designer without going to school can still be achieved but a different educational or training methods will need to be considered.
Many successful Interior Designers became Interior Designer without going to school and have also became very successful in their practice. So, to be a successful Interior Designer or inorder to practice interior design and even owning your own interior design firm, it is not an absolute requirement to go to an interior design school such as a College or University.
3 Learning Methods to Become an Interior Designer
There are 3 alternative methods to learn how to become an Interior Designer without going to school and they are:
1. Find an interior design mentor(s). This person(s) may include an Interior Designer or someone who has the skills and knowledge that is related to interior design such as a Property Developer specializing in interiors, an Interior Decorator, an interior contractor, Window Display Designer, Interior Product Representatives, Exhibition Designer, Furniture Designer, Project Manager for interior development, Architect and even a Graphic Designer etc.
This method maybe the fastest method for training to become an Interior Designer as you will be trained directly with hands-on real world skills. However, finding an interior design mentor can be difficult especially if you are not connected in this industry. Therefore, the best way to approach this is to find employment that is related to this industry or to the list of related industry provided above.
If you already have a full time job doing something else and do not wish to quit, find a part time job something related to interior design. In the beginning, don’t worry so much about the wage, the most important is to start learning the trade.
2. Self-study is also another method to learn how to become an Interior Designer without going to school. With self-study, there is no need to find an interior design mentor nor finding a related part time job. Self-study interior design can be achieved by learning through reading interior design related materials such as interior design books and magazines, online classes, in-person and online free and paid seminars and internet research and study.
Furthermore, with the internet, there are countless information you can search for including interior design photos, project case study, interior design writings and essays etc that you can study and learn from.
3. Soon or later however, you will want to find a mentor rather working for a company in the industry or in a related industry or a person who is willing to guide you and provide you with valuable interior design or related interior design knowledge and skills. Therefore, combining study method 1 and 2 above will be the most deal approach inorder to become an Interior Designer without going to school.
You may first start out your interior design training by self-study first than once you have armed yourself with some knowledge of interior design, then you can start combining method 2 and 3 together.
No doubt learning how to become an Interior Designer without going to school will take time and hard work. But if you have the passion for interior design, you will succeed and eventually achieve your goals as an Interior Designer.
How to Become an Interior Designer Without Going to School Summary:
- find an interior design mentor or working in the industry
- self-study interior design
- combine self-study and a mentor for optimal interior design learning
Tips:
- start with small steps and learn a little abit per day about interior design
- determine which learning method are you most comfortable with for yourself
- try to spend sometime to learn interior design everyday
- if you don’t understand something, write it down and do more research on that topic
- start with only 1 learning method first then you can start combining them
- be persistence and learn daily
- set your goals and milestones regularly and make changes as required
- remember, becoming an Interior Designer is not hard when you have the drive and passion
- put in the time and you will succeed
