Interior Designer
What the work is
Plans, designs, details and coordinates the construction of commercial, residential, institutional, recreational and temporary interior spaces to transform an environment and improve its performance, experience, meaning or purpose.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Consults and coordinates with clients, stakeholders, users and specialist consultants to determine objectives and constraints on interior design projects
- Researches and analyses spatial, functional, economic, ergonomic, comfort, safety, sustainability, inclusivity and aesthetic requirements of interior spaces
- Creates designs that encourage and facilitate optimal use of a space by inhabitants
- Generates presentations, renderings and 3D visualisations to illustrate interior design concepts
- Communicates ideas to clients, stakeholders and collaborators using CAD software and other visualisation tools to develop realistic representations of proposed interior designs
- Selects materials, finishes, furnishings and decorative elements to enhance the aesthetic appeal and functionality of the space
- Details and documents new interior building work for construction to comply with required building codes, standards and authorities
- Collaborates with Architects, contractors, vendors and suppliers to ensure that designs are executed according to specifications, budget and time constraints
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in an interior design practice working on homes, cafes and small offices. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A client walks into their finished space and goes quiet, then smiles
- A tiny awkward room turns into the best spot in the building
- You find the exact material that a whole scheme was missing
Hard days
- A client changes their mind after the cabinets have been ordered
- Two people living in one home want completely different things
- A supplier delay holds up a whole room and everyone looks to you
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 242431, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.