Articles

How To Succeed As An Interior Designer

Author: Chester Smith

The end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century have seen some massive changes in the ways that people can make a living. With the increased business of everyone else, more and more individuals are beginning to find success in areas that three decades ago would never have been imagined. The number of home cleaning services, yard clean up businesses, and other businesses that focus on taking care of the home needs of individuals has skyrocketed. One area which has also seen a lot of growth is the area of interior decorating.

As both men and women are working full time jobs that require a lot of focus, there is more need for a person to come into the home and fix it up in a way that is relaxing for the people that live there as well as making a comfortable place in which to entertain. This involves picking furniture and other items of décor, paintings, mirrors, and even paint colors and linen arrangements. Add to that the placement of all the items, and you can begin to see why people just do not have time to fix their living spaces up how they would like them. Into this gap steps the interior designer, a person gifted with vision and the ability to incorporate the tastes of others into a design scheme.

One need look no further than Martha Stewart to see just how far an interior designer can go. Of course, Martha Stewart has built an empire, one that is unlikely to be rivaled by any other interior decorating hopeful. However, other interior decorators can expect to earn a living that is more than comfortable- the demand is so great that there seems to always be work for someone willing to spend the time fixing up someone else's home.

The most important factor in determining how successful your interior decorating business will be is where you live. Bigger cities, of course, always have more demand for every service, and interior design is no exception. In addition, big cities will tend to have more wealthy potential clients, and more people that just do not have time to do their decorating themselves, when the work day can include a long commute. People living in smaller areas need not fret, however. The odds are very good that you can still earn a good living as an interior decorator, it just means that you will probably have more competition.

As with any business, the key to success will be in networking, and you can probably expect not to make too much money in your first year of business. The great thing about interior design, however, is that it is always on display, and if you do a good job your clients will not be able to help but refer others to you for future business. Base your prices on what you feel you would like to make an hour, within reason of course, and then go after the clients you feel will pay this money. You could also try the other approach, working in bulk for cheaper rates, but a lot of the time people will find they burn out doing this, and that ironically clients will be more picky when they are paying less.

About the author:
Chester Smith maintains a website dedicated to helping people with interior design, and with finding the best interior designers.

Career Channels