See Your Vision Come to Life with Interior Designing!
- Nela Friesen
- Nov 21, 2024
- 6 min read
Table of Contents
About Rachelle from Wall to Wall Design
Rachelle is 33 and graduated from Lethbridge Polytechnic (formerly Lethbridge College) in interior design. In 2016, she started her own business, Wall to Wall Design! She is experienced not only in interior design but also in drafting (creating blueprints for buildings) and rendering (creating a digital photo of the finished product before starting the project). Rachelle told me that starting her business was challenging because she had to worry about her taxes, accounting, etc, for her business. So while it may seem fun, it can be challenging. However, she loves the path she took because it allows her to work part-time so that she can spend more time with her family.
What is Interior Design like?
(keep in mind that this is from the perspective of someone who works part-time independently in their business)
An Average Day on the Job
No two days as an interior designer are ever alike. As a business owner, some days Rachelle will spend a lot of time on the computer sending emails, keeping track of finances, or sending quotes. Other days she might be drafting or rendering for clients. She usually designs the surfaces, such as choosing flooring, paint, colors, etc. She does not usually choose things like furniture or appliances to fill the spaces. She designs for a range of clients from businesses to personal homes. She also spends some days out on job sites making sure things are going to plan or meeting with homeowners, builders, and trades. Rachelle has a lot of variety in how she spends her days. However, if you work for a larger company, you would likely have your own position, such as doing only drafting for example. When choosing a company to work for in any career, you should consider what your tasks will be for that company.
Pay
The pay for interior designers can vary slightly depending on the area you are in. For Rachelle, she started at slightly above minimum wage but as she gained more experience, her income also increased. As an interior designer, she said you could be making around $50,000 a year to start but this could go up to $80,000 or even $100,000 or more per year, especially if you choose the path of starting a business and are successful.
Work Conditions
Interior designing is a very collaborative job as you have to be able to get along with clients and other people on the job such as homebuilders, people from the trades, and even town offices. Rachelle likes to collaborate with other designers to share workloads as well to make sure no one is overwhelmed with too much work. In her opinion, the best way to succeed is to network and build relationships with others.
Interior designing can be a stressful job because people can be impatient to get results without realizing how much work needs to go into it first. There can be tight deadlines. However, if you work as an independent interior designer like Rachelle, you can choose which and how many projects you accept.
Qualities Needed
To be an interior designer, you have to be ambitious, driven, and willing to put in the work. You also need to be able to be able to get along with others, to work with clients and other workers on the project. It is also very important to love creating things because that's what interior design is all about.
Hardest Part
The hardest part about being an interior designer is that they, unfortunately, don't get the recognition they deserve from the trades, even though it may have been an interior designer who made the blueprints they are building off of. There is a misconception that all interior designers do is pick paint and fluff pillows, but in reality, while some jobs may be like that, the industry as a whole is much broader.
Easiest Part
Rachelle is extroverted so the easiest part for her is meeting people and getting to know her clients and other people she will be working with.
How is Interior Design Rewarding?
Interior designing is really rewarding because you get to see your vision come to life as you plan a design for a space. If you go to a certain business or home you designed with people you know, you can tell them “I designed this.”
How much creative freedom do you have as an Interior Designer?
When designing for businesses, interior designers generally have a lot more creative freedom than they do when designing homes. Businesses are less worried about the specifics when it comes to the design of the business, as long as it helps them run the business to make a profit. However, when designing a home, it's more personal to the client so they will often give pointers. I asked Rachelle what her response was when people want her to design something she thinks will look bad. She says she will tell them. She said there have been clients that she had to let go of because they were too pushy. In her opinion, it can be risky to take these projects because if it turns out wrong, it can look bad for her business and reputation as an interior designer so this is a good tip on how to respond to these kinds of projects.
The essence of interior design will always be about people and how they live. It is about the realities of what makes for an attractive, civilized, meaningful environment, not about fashion or what's in or what's out. This is not an easy job. (Albert Hadley)
Post Secondary
Rachelle graduated from the two-year diploma program for interior design at Lethbridge Polytechnic. With the two-year diploma course, you can't be licensed as an interior designer. However, Rachelle told me that most interior designers are not licensed and it's not required on your resume so the program at Lethbridge College is a great program for anyone looking to enter the industry.
The hardest part of going through the program was the heavy workload. Especially in the first year, there were a lot of assignments. In the second year, she had fewer classes but she was placed in a work practicum where she was able to gain experience in an interior designing job. The total cost for her was around $10,000 for tuition and all her supplies for the two years. Looking at the Lethbridge College website now, you can see the cost has gone up by quite a bit. I did a bit of my own research and looking at the downloadable tuition estimator found on the website, I found that total costs would be $7,000 to $8,000 per year, so around $14,000 to $16,000 when combining the two years. Along with the courses needed to graduate, you will also need to take Math 30-1 or 30-2 in high school to qualify for this program.
What can students do to prepare?
Some schools will offer classes in drafting or design, but if this isn't available, you could also play around in SketchUp, a free designing program. There are many tutorials available online to learn how to use this program.
If you are really interested in interior designing, you could also reach out to companies to see if they would be willing to hire a student for the summer. Even if they aren't interested in hiring someone at the moment, doing this can actually help you get a job after college because these companies may remember you as the person who took the time to reach out as early as high school. It will show that you are dedicated and hard-working. (Tip: this works for any career, not just interior designing!)
Extra! Rachelle's favourite project!
Her favourite project was an Airbnb she designed because they wanted it to be very bold and unique so she was able to experiment. Another thing unique about this project was that Rachelle also staged the house, meaning she also chose all the furniture, appliances, etc, which she is not usually able to do. She enjoyed being able to design the house from start to finish.
Thanks so much for reading my first post and special thanks to Rachelle for being the first guest on my blog! I hope you enjoyed learning more about this industry from a new perspective. If you know anyone that would benefit from this blog please share it with them, and please share your feedback through the website because I am always looking to improve. Thanks and see you next week!
Check Out Wall to Wall Design!
Website: https://walltowalldesign.ca
This was an awesome post and I really enjoyed learning about Rachelle's experiences and hearing about her career. The writing was very clear and crisp and contributed to my understanding of the Interior Design career. Thanks