So you want to be an Interior Designer
“So you want to be a Rock-n-roll starWell listen now to what I sayJust get an electric guitarTake some timeAnd learn how to play.”-The Byrds
This might be the best career advice anyone has ever given. Do you hear what Dylan is saying? He is saying, if you want to do something, then go do it. And I have lived my life that way. I know there are a lot of creative geniuses out there reading this and just starting out on their creative life. Maybe you are still in high school and have to just get through math class (who needs it, really? Hi...calculators!!) Or maybe you are a mother or father of three kids and doing a job you don’t love in a career you don’t care about. It is never too early or too late to follow your dream. Or even to think of a new dream!Think you want to be a designer? Try it out! If you don’t like it or if you are bad at it, then great!! Check! Don’t have to think about that anymore, moving on. You see, failure is a success too. Failure is just a success in a different form. So don’t be afraid of it. And don’t be afraid to go for gold….though I prefer aged brass actually.
So you want to be an Interior Designer //
I mean, a lot of the same roles and rules and ideas apply for interior world as they do for styling. You need a book, you need pictures of what you are working on. And you don’t really need clients to do that. You can be your own best client actually. Hear me out….
Make a portfolio or a website profiling your projects — Do that! Ask your friends if they will let you stage or re-deisgn their homes for free for your shoot. Ask your friends that are good at taking pictures to be the photographer. Play with furniture that you already have. Think Satorialist. In one day you can change the entire vibe three times and feel like you have three different shoots for your portfolio.
Make an instagram page just for your new portfolio pictures - Make a tumblr, get it on pinterest, Is myspace history? Just kidding… whatever social media you have use that as an opportunity to show people what you are working on. Word will get around that you are styling and people will start calling you to help them with their design projects.
Promote your skills — Call your friend’s and see who wants help rearranging their furniture. See who needs furniture and go help them find some. Hit up the goodwills and buy things, paint them, sell them for more, you will have a style. It will naturally come out, your vibe, and people will notice that. People with similar style will start to like your work. The more you put out there the more people will start to see. Then the paying jobs will start coming in. And man, that’s exciting! Be honest with them about how much money it will take, how many hours you are working, and what you can help them with.
Bonus Tip — Offer to work for free, or for barter or super cheap. The less risk that is involved for people the more opportunities you will have. And be kind! Just because you are in fashion doesn’t mean you have to be snobby, or mean, or rich, or make people think you are rich. Be kind to everyone you come in contact with, everyone you work with, offer to help with other stuff on set that aren’t your roles, clean up the trash after lunch, bring coffee for your crew, take this job and this chance to spread love and good vibes into the design world. We could use more of those. So thank you for your help!
Through all of this, I think the main thing to remember is that if you really want to do it, then do it. This is a creative field, though a formal education can help you in many ways, it’s not necessary. And a million people may go to school and have the right education and degree in the right field but they might not have IT. If you have IT, then use IT. It would be a waste of a beautiful mind not to.Oh! And the best career advice I can give you starting out is “SAY YES!” When someone asks you if you can do this or if you will help with this, even if you don’t know what you are doing, say YES and figure it out as you go. You will be more than fine.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others”― Martha Graham