welcome, endon927.

be ready, because interiors posts have been targets for criticism in the past, a subject of some architecture-folks ire. it's not so much that interior designers are looked down upon, as it is that they are perceived to come in late in a project, with no inkling of what's come before, and do their work with no understanding of the goals of a project - often completely undermining those goals. i guess you could say that the perception is that they look down upon us, despite their much more limited role in the project.

but this doesn't always happen. good interior designers understand how to work with the larger design team.

my own (architect's) opinion: interior design programs, depending on which you choose, can be limiting. if they're taught from the perspective of 'interior architecture', you can get a bigger picture understanding of what goes into the realization of a project and how you can be an integral part of it.

if it makes your parents feel better, you might consider an architecture program, from which you could switch to a focus in interior design later. the basic architecture program is a valuable background to have.

there are some interior design people around here, so keep checking back. you may not hear from them right away.

.

we have many id's in our office. in fact, it started out as an id office. the id's seem to work long hours picking out carpet samples and wall coverings. the newest id's we have do 3d work and go down to the library to dig out samples of the material choices made by the project managers. they sometimes ask us questions about wall ratings. i think you have more future in id as architecture is being marginalized to death, but people still seem to be willing to pay for people to choose pillows for them. also, you don't need to jump through as many hoops to become a licensed professional. as far as finding jobs in the field, it seems to start in school. is the school well connected to id community? i ask this because id firms, at least ours, hires summer interns, brings in id studios etc, mentors high school kids etc. to a much greater degree than architecture firms.

I've always loved interior design and debated pursuing it over architecture, but ultimately chose architecture becuase I could do both with an arch degree.


I am not familiar with those schools, but I can't see why you wouldn't be able to get a good job. Good, though, is subjective - does it mean reasonable enjoyment/fulfillment? reasonable hours? reasonable pay?


I'd just look on some of the job forums for ideas of pay. ID's usually make more money than architects and the biz is generally more profitable than architecture.


They reason people look down on it here is becuase there are so many interior 'decorators' out there dancing around with curtains and table clothes - you do not want to be an interior decorator!


There is more good interior design out there than good architecture. I'd suggest getting a subscription to Interior Design. Its' got great stuff in it and you could call most of what they publish interior architecture.

I haven't read what anyone above me has posted already, but believe me you'll have a better chance of making a decent living while living a balanced life as an interior designer than as an architect.

endon927, you might need to educate your parents on the differences between interior design, interior architecture, and interior decorating, as trace noted above. Also get a feel for the difference between residential interior design and commercial interior design.

I work for a commercial architecture firm. About a third of my colleagues are interior designers; sometimes the work on their own projects, other times they design the interior spaces for tenants who move into the base buildings that the architects design.

From my experience, it seems like residential interior designers have to contend with interior decorators more often (i.e. the wife thinks she knows how to pick the pillows). In commercial design, there are fewer pillows to be picked.

I have considered getting a degree in architecture though i do need a degree in interior design from a licensed school (Ryerson is licensed) in order to become a licensed interior designer

My parents still want me to get a degree in commerce and find myself a "stable" job before I try my hand at interior design but I figure I don't want to have to find myself a steady job and wait another 8-10 years before even stepping into the interior design world.

They still maintain the view that interior designers cannot earn a stable living and that I most likely won't be able to support myself if I choose to go into interior design. I guess they're still swayed by the amount of prestige there is attached to being able to call yourself an architect (which is what they've tryied pushing me towards)

DCA, while I do not know fully where either categories of commercial or residential design, I'm interested in hospitality/retail design, not too sure where that would fall under.

Personally I wouldn't mind doing aspects of interior decoration as that is what captured my interests initially.

Thanks for the insights!

Welcome to Archinect Endon927! I have an interior design degree and can honestly say your parents are wrong I second everyone's statement above and have more to say but my brain isn't online yet. I'll respond back to this post as soon as I get my thoughts together. Don't despair though, interior design is a good profession and it isn't impossible to make a good living (even in the beginning) doing it. More to come...

The hospitality and retail design fields will probably always keep their designers employed. Hotels renovate their rooms, corridors, and lobbies at an alarmingly fast rate (like once every 3-5 years) to remain competitive in the market. Retailers are similar. Further, the instability of the restaurant and retail markets can work to your advantage, as businesses change locations and owners often.

Another thought that I heard from a principal of an interior design firm: even during an economic downturn, there will always be a demand for office space interior designers. As companies downsize, they will look to relocate and will thus need a new space plan. While I can imagine that the finishes and detailing during economic downturns would be less extravagant, the interior designers will always be employed.

: It has been my experience that interior designers typically make somewhat less right out of school than do architects ... this is mostly because there is a large number who graduate each year and the competiton for entry level jobs can be intense ... however, those with talent and diligence quickly can outpace graduate architects in the compensation department.

Highly experienced and talented interior designers are hard to find and can command high wages -- however, the field is populated by many undisciplined, flighty and non-technical designers who drive architects crazy -- the good ones are worth high compensation -- however (as in most disciplines) there are many, many very ordinary interior designers who make only ordinary compensation.

Good luck ... follow your heart and your dreams ... you'll be happier, even if you experience economic challenges.

I studied interior design and am working in the field yet now I am looking for a Masters in Arch.

Tell you parents not to be afraid. Show them the annual edition of Interior design magazine that post job salaries as well as best firms that are out there(what they consider best) . You might be able to find the stats on line or go to the library they might have back copies of these issues. There are a number of high paying positions in the field for there are a lot of firms that are big to medium size. Even at a lower position you can make good living and have a family.

Another note is that if you are working at a firm after you graduate you always can take side project as long as it does not conflict with you day job. You may not have a certificate or a resale license but there are always people needing a little help with a room or a small shop needs some ideas. These are perfectly safe project provide you do not take on what you cant handle. This is just example of another means of making some extra income while at a firm.

It is going to really boil down to your determination...how successful you want to be. That is the only thing that will stop you. As said above follow your heart and your dreams

I've only skimmed the posts above so I am not sure how "on-topic" this is, but here is my experience. We are an architecture office of 6 with 2 people that are licensed interior designers. We decided a couple of years ago to expand our scope of services to include interior design (residential).

Our preconceived notions were that the interior designers that we worked with did very little work (ie. no drawings, specified light fixtures that we knew about, etc.), and made not only an hourly rate, but 25% to 35% of products that they purchased.

The reality was a lot different. We have had a couple of very successful projects and some disasters. We also charged an hourly rate (basically half of our architectural project hourly rates) as well as 25% mark-up. The amount of time spent on unbelievably moronic delivery people (for example) cannot be understated and is something that we could not bill for. It's also amazing the number of furniture pieces that come in wrong (even something as simple as a table coming in with different dimensions than the cut sheets). As an interior designer, you are basically a retailer-so these mistakes become yours.

I could go on with a very long post, but in short I will say that the profession is much more difficult (in a tedious kind of way) that it seems and that although we did a couple of projects that were very profitable, we also did some that literally lost money.

Again, not sure if this helped the original poster, but. . .

endon,

Look into OCAD's Environmental Design program. I believe technically it would be targeted as "interior architecture" but it's very cross-curricular (architecture, interior design, design, art, et all.) Arnaud (from the school-blogs) graduated and went on to IIT for his M.Arch, and I know another who works for a strictly interior design firm.

It sucks you want to leave Dalhousie, I would love to go there!

Wow. I didn't expect so many responses, thanks for clearing up so many issues.

While my parents still maintain the whole discouraging viewpoint despite how I tried to explain to them about the difference between interior design and decoration, I still want to make sure that I'm being realistic.

A lot of you seem to be United States based but as a Canadian student would that limit my ability to work out of country? That and how likely is it that I will be actually designing? Ive heard that one of the large misconceptions with architecture students is that they will graduate designing, so I don't know if that applies to interior design as well.

higherness: I did consider the environmental design program but during the OCAD open house the graduate work kind of...discouraged me (that and there was a lot of negativity associated with OCAD among high school-ers)

2 words for you: Candice Olsen (she's Canadian)