What Educational Experience Is Needed to Be an Interior Designer?

Some people think that interior designers just arrange furniture and make everything in a space match. Interior designers, however, are highly skilled practitioners -- knowledgeable about architecture and building engineering -- who design commercial and residential spaces for functionality, energy efficiency and human comfort. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the profession to grow faster than other professions through 2018 due to increased consumer awareness about interior design benefits. Interior designers must be certified to practice the profession, a process that could take up to six years to complete.

Degree Programs

You meet the educational requirements to become a certified interior designer by completing an accredited associate's, bachelor's or master's degree interior design program. You also meet the requirements if you have a degree in other field, as long as you complete 60 semester hours in interior design, according to the National Council for Interior Design Qualifications, or NCIDQ. Architects who earned regular bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture and not B. Arch or M. Arch degrees -- bachelor or master of architecture -- must complete 40 semester hours in interior design to qualify to take the certification exam.

Curriculum

Interior design college students generally take basic studio classes in drawing, graphic design, color theory and sculpture. Students must also take art history classes to learn the history of architecture and interior design and to learn the present-day applications of classical design concepts. In advanced interior design classes, those taken during the junior and senior year and in graduate school, students dedicate their time to conceptualizing and designing hypothetical spaces, and learning about building engineering and interior design materials.

Internship/Work Experience

Internships play a central role in your interior design education, because you must have hands-on industry experience to qualify to take the certification exam. You can count internships you complete in college towards your qualifying hours as long as you don't receive academic credit for those internships. Your internship supervisor must be NCIDQ certified for the internship experience to count. You can continue to work on your internship and work experience requirement after you graduate from college.

Certification Exam

Interior designers ready to take the industry certification examination must submit an application, letters of recommendation, work verification documents and college transcripts. NCIDQ offers the exam twice a year -- in the fall and spring -- in major cities in the United States and Canada. The exam registration fee costs $165 and test fees range between $255 and $390 as of 2011, depending on your interior design specialty area.

References

• Institute of Interior Design: How Do I Become an Interior Designer
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Interior Designers
• Savannah College of Art and Design: Interior Design
• National Council for Interior Design Qualification: Exam Eligibility Requirements
• American Society of Interior Designers: Selecting a School or Program
• Pratt Institute: Interior Design B.F.A.

Resources

• National Architecture Accrediting Board