Professional Outlook

Residential interior design focuses on the planning or specifying of interior materials and products used in homes. Designers are trained to interview clients to help them explore in depth their needs and tutor them as to possible future requirements that will improve their lifestyle.

Kitchen and bath designers bring together knowledge of textures, colors, space, and lighting to plan and decorate kitchens and bathrooms in restaurants, homes, schools, hospitals and other spaces. This specialty also requires an understanding of the electric and plumbing systems used in kitchens and bathrooms.

Health care designers create environments for hospitals, clinics, examination rooms, surgical suites, mobile units, hospice care homes, nursing, assisted living or long-term care facilities, or any other health care environment. Design for health care facilities impacts the well-being of not only patients and their families, but also of the care provider, therefore directly impacting the quality of care.

Hospitality design focuses on environments that entertain or host the public, including nightclubs, restaurants, theaters, hotels, city and country clubs, golf facilities, cruise ships, and conference facilities. For an interior designer in this specialty, it is important to understand the client's business, including operational procedures, image and use requirements, as well as budget and financial constraints. Design solutions have to be responsive to goals, budgets, and aesthetic objectives established by the client.

Office design focuses on the public and private areas utilized by corporate and professional service firms. Office design, by its very nature, cannot be neatly categorized or defined, as there are an almost endless number of workplace types. People's offices can be found in traditional office buildings, in their homes, at a hospital nurses' station, or even in an airplane cockpit, so design must reflect this variety.

Retail design and store planning concentrate on spaces like you would find in department stores, outlets, showrooms, and shopping malls. Retail designers are not in the business of creating "pretty stores." While pretty environments are nice, pretty does not necessarily create sales-per-square-foot. Designers who successfully practice in this field must be strategic planners who understand how great retail designs are developed.

Entertainment design brings together the use of interiors, lighting, sound, and other technologies for movies, television, music videos, dramatic and musical theater, clubs, concerts, and theme parks. Designing for entertainment differs from the design of more conventional settings and often involves using your creativity to tell a story or create a separate reality.

Institutional design provides design solutions to a wide range of markets including commercial, government, educational, and healthcare organizations. For an interior designer in such a broad specialty, it is important to understand the institution and the goals that they would like the design to achieve.

Educational design is about creating an environment that supports the educational process and overall learning experience. Student performance in school has been shown to have a relationship to the quality of the building, so interior designers in this specialty will need to consider many factors of the space, including security, ergonomics, acoustics, storage, indoor air quality, and the visual environment, as all of these factors affect student performance.

Independent/self-employed interior designers design spaces for a variety of clients. As an independent professional, they have every responsibility that any interior designer has, in addition to promoting and marketing their business, securing new jobs, and hiring other necessary professionals to complete projects on time and within budget.

Designer reps are responsible for selling a company’s products. This role requires extensive knowledge of products, brands, collections, and the interior design industry, as well as the ability to develop sales channels and build client relationships.

This position is responsible for creating furniture specifications, selecting furniture and finishes, and working on space planning and floor plans.

Interior designers produce designs, plans, and drawings for construction and installation, which may include floor plans, electrical layouts, and plans needed for building permits. Interior designers work closely with contractors and builders to ensure their design is carried out accurately and to its fullest potential.

After completing a master’s degree or gaining equivalent professional design experience, interior designers are eligible to teach interior design at the collegiate level. Professors of interior design must be prepared to teach all aspects of interior design, from foundational concepts, to sustainable design, to digital design/drafting, to critical thinking, ultimately preparing students to be able to respond to the complex global challenges found in the interior design industries.