When Youre Passionate You Can Do Anything You Want
Some people view a hobby as doing what you love to do. Its something that you love enough to do it in your spare time. But this implies that a career is simply a job that pays the bills. Guess what? Passion isnt exclusive to hobbying! You can certainly have a fulfilling career if you truly care about what you do.
You likely find the most joy after completing a home makeover. Refreshing a space and seeing the homeowners truly excited about their home again is incredibly rewarding! That passion for sparking joy in others through aesthetics translates well to other jobs.
The good news is that becoming certified in interior decorating doesnt mean youre just trapped in that one vocation! Many people choose to take interior decorating courses even if they dont intend to stay within that career. Theyre still learning everything they want to learn, with the added bonus of becoming certified. If youre passionate about making people happy and being creative, theres a host of opportunities for you out there!
For instance, you could choose to teach. If teaching in a traditional setting isnt for you, take your talents online! DIY decorating on YouTube and Pinterest are popular nowadays. In the loose, personal structure of YouTube content, you can educate viewers on professional techniques. But itll be in a relaxed, casual manner with your audience. Youll feel like youre just sharing a mutual hobby.
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Continue To Enhance Your Design Learning
Once you graduate from design school and take the NCIDQ exam , your education should not stop there. Keep your design knowledge fresh and maintain your competitive edge by seeking out continuing education opportunities. Sign up for design or business courses online through sites like AEC Daily. Audit a class that helps you with practical application of design theory. Take the LEED exam and become a LEED accredited professional for Interior Design and Construction. Learning the ins and outs of environmentally sustainable design, building, and construction practices likely will make you a more attractive job applicant at a design firm over a candidate who lacks this knowledge.
Be conscientious to constantly evolve yourself as a designer by staying current with interior design trends. Subscribe to design mags like AD and Interior Design or specialized trade publications like Hospitality Design. Read designer and design association blogs. Follow tastemakers on social media. Download design apps, such as Houzz, which provides a vast marketplace of interior design products Hutch, which offers a daily design challenge and allows you to complete the design for a hypothetical client scenario and 1stDibs, Incollect, or Chairish, which are valuable resources for highly coveted vintage and rare artisan finds.
Are You Running An Interior Design Business Or Hobby
One of the most important things you can do for yourself in starting an interior design business is to take ownership. You are at the helm of the ship. You are the captain. You are the CEO. You make things happen, things don’t happen to you.
Taking ownership means that if you decide to start an interior design business, you don’t dabble. You take it seriously. Otherwise, you need to recognize that you have a hobby and it is a side project. These are two very different things. You shouldn’t allow your business-hobby languish in a grey area of uncertainty.
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Obtain Proper Certification To Practice Interior Design
Twenty-seven states require licensure for interior designers, which includes passing the NCIDQ exam. NCIDQ is the most common interior design certification, recognized in the United States and Canada as a benchmark for proficiency in the profession. In order to qualify to take the NCIDQ exam, you must first earn an associate, bachelors, or masters degree and complete a certain number of hours of work experience depending on the level of education. Comprising three partsthe Interior Design Fundamentals Exam , the Interior Design Professional Exam , and the practicumthe NCIDQ exam covers subjects such as construction standards, design application, building systems and codes, project coordination, and contract administration. You may take the first partthe IDFXonce youve graduated from design school even if you havent completed all the required work hours. The IDPX, meanwhile, is available to you once youve completed both your education and work requirements, and the practicum is the final exam. Fees for each part of the exam are paid separately. While this three-part test may sound arduous, you should have gleaned all the necessary information through schooling and practical experience to fare well enough to pass the exam and obtain your NCIDQ credentialsyou need a score of at least 500 out of 800 to pass. And this is certification thats definitely worth having , as it legitimizes your skill set and experience to clients and employers.
The Budget Can Be Tweaked
Interior designers want the best for your home and that doesnt always go well with a tight budget. The good news is that budgets can be tweaked while still achieving an amazing outcome.For example, if your designer suggests new curtains, take a minute to look at options for curtains that might save. If your designer suggests floor-to-ceiling drapes in a luxury fabric that beats your budget, then consider less expensive roman shades in the same pricey fabric thereby, saving your budget from being blown on yards of fabric.This same concept can be applied to other areas of your home, such as kitchen cabinets. Custom cabinets will create a one-of-a-kind look, but they are also far more expensive than stock cabinets that can become unique by changing out the door fronts.
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Understanding these tricks of the trade will keep your relationship with your interior designer friendly and smooth.If your professional relationship is on track and you understand how the business works, you should be pleasantly surprised with the final outcome and possibly under budget!While interior designers are skilled professionals, we must always remember that it is a business and should be treated as such. So, set your emotions aside and make a business deal with your designer a deal that makes everyone happy and creates a lasting home design that you will love for years to come.Are you considering hiring a decorator? If so, what questions would you ask?
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From Avocation To Vocation: How I Turned My Hobby Into A Career With Laura Hildebrandt Of Interiors By Lh
As naïve as it sounds, I think I didnt realize I was building a company. I was a newly single mom of three and just needed income. My head was down and I was just going from one job to the next without much thought to it being full time job. It wasnt until a few years in when I was asked to do a designer show house that I thought, wait Ive created a full-fledged business!
As a part of our series about entrepreneurs who transformed something they did for fun into a full-time career, I had the pleasure of interviewing Laura Hildebrandt.
Laura Hildebrandt is the Owner and Principal Interior Designer at Interiors by LH, LLC located in Vienna, VA. Founded in 2013, Interiors by LH, LLC is a boutique, luxury interior design firm that believes in Design for Your Lifestyle®. Laura believes that interior design should enhance her clients environment and life. Interiors by LH is a three time winner of Best of Houzz Design and a regular contributor to Home & Design Magazine.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
What was the catalyst from transforming your hobby or something you love into a business? Can you share the story of your ah ha moment with us?
There are no shortage of good ideas out there, but people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How did you overcome this challenge?
What are your 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started and why?
What Does An Interior Decorator Do
Interior decorators oversee efforts to make interior spaces functional, aesthetic and cohesive. They choose and arrange decor and may make decisions concerning interior lighting and furniture. Interior decorators understand clients’ needs and work to execute their vision for a space, whether it’s a personal room or a company space.
The list below covers the important duties of an interior decorator:
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Meeting with clients to understand their needs and goals
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Estimating costs of materials and labor
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Creating project budgets
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Supervising installation of furniture and other design elements
Related: How To Become an Interior Designer
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Remember The Chandeliers And Glass Surfaces
If you walk into a Victorian house, you will find mirrors, stained glass panels, and sophisticated chandeliers everywhere.
These reflective surfaces are used to brighten up the house by simply refracting the light from various sources. The chandeliers themselves feature countless bulbs hanging from complex metal and glass structures. If you wish to incorporate these lighting options in a middle-class home, you can always choose the LED chandeliers and inexpensive glass work. They dont cost a ton but they sure add valor to your Victorian home.
Now for the mirrors, you can hang as many as you want in the parlor, along the rails of the stairwell, in the living room, dining room, or even the bedroom. They dont have to be very large. Just get some that have a beautiful framework and hang them around the house.
Lastly, you can use stained glass on doorways and cabinets, shower stalls, and even your window panels. All these reflective surfaces allow the light to travel to every corner thus making Victorian design seem so open and expansive.
Image Credit: mydomaine.com
Tips To Get Started With Your Decor
A major pitfall that traps untrained decorators is editing. A good interior decorator can scan a room and understand what items work in a room and when something is too much, tasteful, or requires embellishment. A few tips in this area can make or break your room’s design choices.
One room element that can usually use an editorial eye is how pillows are placed. Pillows can be a nice accent adding to the room’s color story, or in some cases, even create a focal point for the room. However, some people have a tendency to overdo it with pillows. Avoid overloading a sofa to the point that a guest has to move all the pillows just to sit down.
Choices of artwork can be important for a room, but equally consider how you display it. A rule of thumb is to set wall hangings at eye-level. Similarly, the height you set the chandelier matters. A common mistake people make is hanging a chandelier too high or close to the ceiling. Drop it low enough that it brings light into the room and is noticed. If you hang it above a table, make sure that when you sit up from the table, your or any taller guests cannot knock into it.
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Create An Interior Design Portfolio
Anyone who wants to become an interior designer needs an interior design portfolio. If youre fresh out of school and dont have examples of paid client work, use student work, internship experiences, non-client, self-initiated work, and side projects to help illustrate your design capabilities. David Sprouls, president of NYSID, says, We evaluate many portfolios at the New York School of Interior Design, and there are a few characteristics that make some stand out. First and foremost, we like to see a portfolio that demonstrates design thinking We want to see that designers understand process. He notes that a portfolio should demonstrate more than merely the finished project: It should also weave a narrative that showcases how you interpret the clients preferences, project goals, and challenges through the execution of beautiful designs.
A few points to keep in mind when creating your interior design portfolio:
Is Home Decor A Hobby
Anyone who has ever decorated a home or office has taken part in interior design. Its a popular topic for many home and garden entertainment television shows. It is a popular hobby for many people because you dont need a degree to take pride in decorating your home.
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Apply To A Variety Of Interior Design Jobs
Cast a wide net as far as areas of interest, explore a host of interior design jobs, and remain open to all opportunities. If something sounds remotely interesting to you, apply to the post. You never know the connections youll make by speaking with people at various design firms.
This is an exciting time to be in interior design, the field is ripe for new thinking, imagination, and bold innovation. Being multifaceted and open to new experiences will be key, Ames Noble says. Sometimes having a specific career arc can limit yourself from what you can become and what you can offer. The future of the practice probably wont be as linear as it used to be.
When you are able to incorporate authenticity and passion into your work and have knowledge of multiple sectors and types of work, youre setting yourself up for success.
Arrange informational interviews to learn about firms and their areas of expertise. Research about different interior design jobs, and become well-informed about distinct roles within a design firm so that you see which types of positions are most in accord with your background and skill set. Learn about the company culture, the workforce, and upper management at the design firms you are targeting for employment, and pay attention when visiting workplaces for interviews. Ask yourself if you can see yourself working in this office among these colleagues.
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Should I Hire A Designer Or A Decorator
Whether you hire a designer or decorator depends on your needs. If your space requires structural changes, such as removing a wall, rerouting plumbing or electrical wiring, or adding new windows or doors, a designer is the better choice. However, if your space only needs a visual update such as new furnishings, paint or flooring, an interior decorator can handle those tasks with ease.
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Great Ways To Include Your Hobbies And Passion In Your Home Decor
Coming back to a home filled with stuff that you are passionate about and incorporating them into your home décor can not only be fun but also make your life at home much more enjoyable.
When you own a home, to make it a place where you feel you truly belong, you need to fill it with more than pretty pictures and expensive furniture. Make it your perfect nest by adding home décor elements that spark your soul, speak to you, and make you come alive. It will not only create a beautiful home but also be a perfect sanctuary where you will love spending every day.
Show off your collection
Many people even grown-ups love collecting things that mean something to them. It could be something as clichéd as collecting stamps to collecting expensive paintings to something as quirky as collecting teapots. Do not hesitate to flaunt them. Instead of hiding them in closed cabinets and drawers, display them in the living room, entryway or other suitable place on wall shelves or showcases. When displaying anything, make sure they are at a height where they are easily visible by visitors walking in.
Keep it in flow with the overall décor
Flaunt your talents
Store sentimental objects in your sight
Keep your hobby-related items within easy reach
What Is A Home Decor Enthusiast
Home Enthusiasts tend to have their own ideas about their homes and how to improve them, and doing it themselves is one sure way to indulge their whims. The HGTV Lifestyle Trends Report shows 47 percent of adults describing home projects as a favorite mode of self-expression.
How can I be good at decorating?
How can I be a good interior designer?
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Hobby Vs Career: What To Do With Your Interior Decorating Certification
An interior decorating course can benefit both hobbyists and professionals. Even if youre just decorating for fun, you should know how to do it properly!
While some people who take interior decorating certification courses are sure they want to launch a career in the field afterwards, others arent. Some even wait to complete the course before deciding whether to continue decorating as a career. We dont blame them, though! Its hard to anticipate exactly what it takes to become a professional decorator without seeing the content in front of you.
But when it comes down to it, what can you really do after graduation? Hang on tight! Were going to explore everything you can do with your interior decorating certification!
What’s A Typical Day For An Interior Designer What Tasks Do You Typically Work On
A typical day is never the same. As I have shared with students, interior design is 20% design and 80% admin.
I prefer to spend most of my time working with clients directly, visiting sites, and specifying product, but many times I am working with my vendors to hash out custom details, negotiate pricing, etc.
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