What Do Interior Designers Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

Interior Designers plan, design, and furnish interiors of residential, commercial, or industrial buildings. Formulate design which is practical, aesthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity, selling merchandise, or improving life style. May specialize in a particular field, style, or phase of interior design. They also design plans to be safe and to be compliant with the American Disabilities Act (ADA).

Other tasks include:

• Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.
• Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.
• Use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents.
• Advise client on interior design factors such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
• Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, and purpose and function.
• Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.

We asked Interior Designers how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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72% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 54% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, Interior Designers use computer-aided drafting (CAD) and related software to produce construction documents. They coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.

A typical day for an Interior Designer will also include:

• Advise client on interior design factors such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
• Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items.
• Plan and design interior environments for boats, planes, buses, trains, and other enclosed spaces.
• Formulate environmental plan to be practical, esthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity or selling merchandise.
• Design spaces to be environmentally friendly, using sustainable, recycled materials when feasible.

We asked some Interior Designers a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	100% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	59% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	85% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	31% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	4% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	33% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, Interior Designers also select or design, and purchase furnishings, art works, and accessories. They may also review and detail shop drawings for construction plans.

On a weekly to monthly basis, Interior Designers Advise client on interior design factors such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination. They might also Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings.

In addition, they Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Research and explore the use of new materials, technologies, and products to incorporate into designs.

To some Interior Designers, it is also their responsibility to Inspect construction work on site to ensure its adherence to the design plans.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as an Interior Designer, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules..

They also like starting up and carrying out projects. They like leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/arts-and-design/interior-designers.htm

http://www.asid.org/

http://www.iida.org/

http://www.accredit-id.org/