9 Awesome Reasons Why You Should Learn Interior Design
Author: vonsassy | Last Updated: September 16, 2024
16 minute read.
Hello, Future Designer!
Whether you’re curious about interior design or have been exploring it for a while, you’ve come to the right place.
Today, we’ll dive into nine compelling reasons to start learning interior design. From helping others to enhancing your life and even saving the planet, these reasons are hard to ignore.
So, let’s explore the top 9 ways you can benefit from learning interior design:
- Positively Impact Physical and Mental Health
- Enhance Enjoyment in Interior Spaces
- Boost Productivity in Workplaces and Safety in Public Areas
- Master Visual Communication in 2D and 3D
- Become a Problem-Solving Creative Genius
- Understand Architecture on a Human Scale
- Seize Entrepreneurial Opportunities
- Enjoy Future Job Satisfaction and Security
- Promote Sustainability in Building and Living Practices
Here’s a closer look at each reason:
1. Positively Impact Physical and Mental Health
The Ethics of Good Design
Interior design isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about creating spaces that prioritize human well-being. A solid design plan considers environmental and human factors long before construction begins, ensuring that spaces are both beautiful and functional.
Practicing Good Design
A strong interior design education teaches you to think critically, using first principles to meet essential needs before expanding into creative possibilities. This approach leads to responsible and ethical design that benefits everyone.
Human-Centric Design
People spend about 90% of their time indoors, so it’s crucial to create environments that support health and well-being. Interior design can transform spaces into places that inspire and uplift us, making a positive impact on our daily lives.
A good interior design plan should consider all the environmental and human factors long before any building, or interior construction is realized. The theory and practice of good design is exemplified by important design educators like Mike Cooley, an architectural engineering designer who wrote “Human-Centered Systems”.
Designers Learn Logic and Empathy
Good design is about understanding human behavior and creating spaces that meet people’s needs. As a designer, you’ll become an expert in ergonomics, using tools like psychological reasoning and anthropometrics to create environments that foster well-being.
Designers Think People First
Interior design is rooted in empathy. By studying how people interact with spaces, you’ll learn to design environments that prioritize human needs, making you a better designer—and a better person.
How a Design Education Helps Interior Designers
Good interior design education for new designers is key to ensuring that the buildings of the future will be built responsibly and with their users in mind.
Through design education new interior designers are trained to think in terms of first principles, expanding into what is creatively possible in a design only after the primary requirements are met.
This approach to design results in responsible and ethical design.
Read more about Human-Centric Design in practice.
Environmental Design
Interior designers also create settings for experiences, from high-society events to everyday activities. As an “environmental engineer,” you’ll be responsible for designing spaces that meet the specific needs of their inhabitants.
Human and Environmental Concerns
Interior design projects should focus on maximizing air and sound quality, ensuring safety, planning logical spaces, and promoting well-being. The ultimate goal? Creating environments that make people feel safe, comfortable, and inspired.
Some of the tools used to study human behavior in environments include psychological reasoning, behavioral tests, survey sampling, and anthropometrics (the measurement of human body standards). These tools form the foundation of ergonomic design studies and can inspire further design advancements and innovations.
Priorities in Interior Design Projects
Human health is the top priority in interior design. Once functional needs are met, you can focus on form and creativity, adding the “wow” factor that makes your work stand out.
But how, you might wonder? Isn’t interior design all about creating luxurious yacht interiors, private jets, and extravagant mansions? Aren’t designers like the ones you see on “Million Dollar Decorators”?
Studying interior design can surprisingly make us better individuals.
In reality, the best interior designers are experts in human behavior and ergonomics. Although the term ‘ergonomics’ might sound similar to ‘economics,’ it refers to something quite different. Calling a designer a ‘master of ergonomics’ means they deeply understand how human factors interact with physical spaces and prioritize human needs in their designs.
Creating the ‘Wow’ Factor
After addressing logistics and needs, the creative phase begins. This is where you get to use your creativity to enhance spaces, making the world a better and more inspiring place.
Interior Design Scope
Interior designers don’t just create rooms or entire buildings; they also set the stage for memorable experiences and significant events. The field of interior design encompasses a wide range of specialties, from high-end decorators to interior architects, set designers, stage designers, and even pavilion designers.
Sometimes referred to as ‘environmental engineers,’ interior designers are trusted for their expertise in managing human interactions within environments. In every project, a designer must deeply understand the space’s purpose and the specific needs and desires of its inhabitants or audience.
Human and Environmental Concerns in Interior Design Projects
Some of the key considerations in interior design projects should include:
- Creating the Right Atmosphere: Tailoring the mood, vibe, brand, comfort, flexibility, or productivity of a space to meet specific needs and objectives.
- Maximizing Environmental Quality: Ensuring optimal air and sound quality by selecting appropriate systems and solutions.
- Compliance with Safety Codes: Planning for electrical outlets, fire safety exits, and adhering to legal building codes.
- Effective Space Planning: Organizing circulation pathways, zoning, and grouping furnishings to enhance functionality and ease of use.
- Promoting Safety and Comfort: Designing spaces that help individuals feel secure and comfortable.
- Enhancing Well-being: Facilitating harmonious behavior and contributing to overall physical and mental health.
2. Enhance Enjoyment in Interior Spaces
The Power of Place
Interior design can deepen your appreciation for how our surroundings shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Just like a vacation or a walk in nature, a well-designed space can transform your mood and perspective.
Interior Design Life Lessons
- Good design imparts order, harmony, and comfort.
- Streamlined spaces free the mind for other tasks or leisure.
- A well-designed environment makes it easier to relax and enjoy life.
The Psychology of Space
Interior design teaches you to consider the “setting” of spaces, influencing how people interact with their environment. Whether it’s setting the stage for an event or creating a mood, design plays a crucial role in shaping experiences.
Influence Behaviors Through Design
Designers use organizational systems to influence behavior, like planning a home office for productivity or a mudroom for shoe storage. By learning interior design, you’ll gain the skills to create environments that support positive behaviors
Learning interior design can grow your appreciation for the “power of place”. This a phrase coined by Winifred Gallagher in the title of her book, “The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions and Actions. I highly recommend reading it.
Our immediate physical environment has an undeniable power to influence and even transform us, by inadvertently shaping our view of the world and our behavior in it.
Are you starting to see how learning interior design helps us to be more empathetic? As a designer empathy is a literal super power.
3. Boost Productivity in Workplaces and Safety in Public Areas
Workplace Interior Design
Learning interior design can improve workplace environments, significantly enhancing people’s quality of life. Small changes, like desk placement or proximity to amenities, can make a big difference in comfort and productivity.
Workplaces Before 2020
The pandemic has shifted how we view workspaces, with many people now preferring remote work. Flexible, well-designed workspaces that cater to real people’s needs are more important than ever.
Comfort in Workplaces
Good interior design can alleviate discomfort and increase happiness in the workplace, whether in traditional offices or modern co-working spaces
Safety in Workplaces
Interior designers also ensure safety in public spaces by planning for fire safety and clear exits, reducing risks for everyone.
4. Master Visual Communication in 2D and 3D
Interior Designers are Communication Specialists
Interior design is all about communication—verbal, written, and visual. Designers translate abstract ideas into concrete plans, using their skills to bring visions to life.
Communicating with Clients
Successful interior design relies on clear communication with clients, from initial concepts to final implementation. Designers use a variety of visualization techniques to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
How The Design Process Works
The design process involves extensive research, sketching, planning, and creating detailed technical plans. It’s a challenging but rewarding journey that hones your communication and visualization skills.
Design Process Notes
To avoid costly misunderstandings and ensure clarity before implementing a final design proposal, designers use various visualization techniques. This process includes:
- Translating Research into Visuals: Converting written research into graphics, charts, and other visual aids.
- Sketching Existing Features and Early Concepts: Creating initial sketches to represent existing features and early design ideas.
- Proposing Changes for Approval: Detailing proposed changes in plans and submitting them for review and approval.
- Maintaining a Visual Trail: Providing a clear visual path from initial discovery sessions through inspirational and conceptual work to refined schematic plans.
- Preparing Detailed Technical Plans: Furnishing the project with comprehensive, drawn-up technical plans.
Visual-Spatial Memory Superpowers
Learning interior design enhances your visual-spatial memory, improving your observational skills and helping you notice details that others might miss.
We all hear about how important communication is. Well, another excellent reason for learning interior design is to learn to be an expert communicator. Combing verbal, written, 2D and 3D ideas, the interior designer is necessarily a communication specialist of the highest order!
Think about this way: It’s the designer’s job to take existing conditions as well as abstract ideas, hopes and dreams and deliver on them. This magic of design would not be possible without the incredible communication skills designers learn in school and through practice.
5. Become a Problem-Solving Creative Genius
Creativity Can Be Learned
Interior design will make you more creative, teaching you to solve complex problems through design thinking. This approach keeps the focus on human-centered solutions, allowing you to explore multiple ideas before finding the best one.
The Value of Design Thinking
Design thinking is a valuable skill beyond the design field, applicable to businesses, education, government, and more. It’s a powerful tool for anyone looking to innovate and solve problems creatively.
Solving creative problems in design involves managing multiple variables while maintaining a human-centered focus. Design thinking is key to ensuring that the design serves its intended users, aims for the best possible outcome, and remains feasible.
The process starts by framing the design question accurately and keeping it open-ended. This allows for exploration and experimentation with multiple ideas, testing theories, and refining solutions until the best and most effective design is achieved.
To read more about design thinking go to:
6. Understand Architecture on the Human Scale
Interior Design for Architecture Lovers
If you love architecture, interior design offers a practical, everyday application of architectural principles. While architecture focuses on the big picture, interior design zooms in on the details that make spaces livable and functional
Interior Designers are More Employable
Interior design often offers more immediate job opportunities and flexibility compared to architecture. Renovations and adaptive reuse projects are in high demand, making interior design a practical and rewarding career choice
“Humanizing” Architecture
Interior design brings architectural principles down to the human level, creating spaces where people truly interact with their environment. When architectural elements are lacking, interior design can transform a space into something special.
If, like me, you appreciate architecture and beautiful buildings, you might find that interior design is where the broader principles of architecture are brought to the human level. Interior design focuses on the individual’s interaction with their environment, making it a personal and impactful aspect of architectural practice.
When the architectural elements of a building are visually weak, it presents a unique opportunity for the interior designer. The interior becomes a blank canvas for transformation, allowing the designer to inject creativity and functionality into a space that might otherwise be underwhelming. This process of taking something in need of reform and creating something vibrant and functional highlights the vital role of interior design in enhancing the built environment.
Some have said that architecture is an incredible profession, but a terrible career choice.
Careers in Interior Design vs. Architecture
Interior Designers are More Employable
While there are undeniably overlaps between the two disciplines, interior design, to me, seems to have more immediate practical applications to the everyday and familiar real world than architecture. Architecture is paramount in its importance to the structure of the built environment, but it can never be concerned with the details that interior design necessarily is.
Supply and Demand
When it comes to becoming a professional, it seems to me that there are way more renovations being done in existing buildings than entirely new structures going up every day. Renovation, known in the industry as adaptive reuse, is also a “greener” option than building from scratch.
Competition in Architecture
The world of architecture is thrilling, but it is also highly competitive. Achieving recognition and success in architecture often requires a lifetime of dedication. I’ve heard of architects who changed careers to become interior designers and even architects who advised their own children to pursue interior design rather than architecture. This shift is often due to the more lucrative opportunities and higher chances of success available in commercial interior design compared to the average architectural graduate, especially if one wants to start an individual design practice.
While architects can practice interior design, interior designers cannot practice architecture, except in specific cases of interior architecture.
7. Seize Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Be Your Own Boss
Did you know that roughly sixty percent of interior design professionals are self-employed? This statistic highlights a significant advantage of pursuing a career in interior design: the potential to become your own boss. It’s a figure that many in the industry take great pride in.
Interior Design Entrepreneurship
One of the compelling aspects of interior design is its strong alignment with entrepreneurial opportunities. The possibility of working independently or starting your own creative business was a major factor in my decision to delve into interior design. It offers a clear pathway to entrepreneurship, allowing you to leverage your creativity and expertise in various ways.
With the technical skills and software proficiency gained from a quality interior design program, you’re well-positioned to explore several promising avenues. These include specializing in drafting construction documents, creating detailed models, or developing digital renderings. This versatility not only enhances your career prospects but also opens doors to innovative and independent professional paths.
What if You Change Your Mind About Interior Design?
Even if you decide that you don’t want to work in the interior design industry after studying interior design, your education still affords you some great options. You can consider becoming a writer or an editor on the subject or perhaps teach aspects of what you’ve learned about interior design. The options are endless.
8. Enjoy Future Job Satisfaction and Security
Interior Design Demand is on the Rise
Pursuing a career in interior design can open doors to a promising future.
Industry Forecasts
The future of interior design jobs shows a mixed outlook. Some industry forecasts suggest a slight decline of up to 5%, while others predict a potential increase of the same magnitude. This variation stems from differing regional economic conditions and industry trends.
Location Matters
Recent developments indicate that while demand may fluctuate, the overall outlook remains positive. In regions such as India and other emerging economies, demand for interior designers is experiencing significant growth. Conversely, some areas may see a more moderate demand.
Low Unemployment Rates
Currently, the unemployment rate for interior designers is remarkably low, below 1%. This statistic reflects a strong job market, although those not actively working might be on sabbaticals, managing family commitments, or exploring other career paths.
Such a low unemployment rate is notable in any profession and suggests a high value placed on skilled interior designers. It also reflects the satisfaction many designers find in their work, contributing to the stability of the field.
9. Promote Sustainability in the Building Industry
Help People, Help the Environment
Studying interior design can empower you to make a positive impact on both people and the planet.
Balancing Comfort and Sustainability
While interior design focuses on enhancing the comfort and functionality of living spaces, it also plays a crucial role in minimizing environmental impact. During my interior design studies, sustainability was a major focus, emphasizing the importance of adopting eco-friendly practices and innovative solutions.
How Can Designers Make a Difference to the Environment?
Given the close relationship between interior design and the construction industry, designers are in a prime position to drive sustainability efforts.
- Educate and Advocate: Designers can lead by example by educating clients and suppliers about sustainability. By setting high standards for projects and sourcing ethically, they encourage others to make environmentally-conscious choices.
- Choose Green Products: Selecting eco-friendly materials and products supports manufacturers and suppliers who are committed to sustainability. This, in turn, promotes a broader shift towards greener practices within the industry.
Designers hold significant responsibility in shaping the built environment, and their choices can lead to substantial positive changes.
Be a Voice for Change in the Industry
Even if you work for a company that isn’t committed to ethical practices, your awareness and actions can influence future opportunities. If you decide to start your own business, committing to environmental responsibility can distinguish you from competitors and attract clients who value sustainability.
Bottom Line: Designers have the potential to transform the industry by championing “green” design and advocating for sustainable practices. Their influence can help address many of the negative aspects of the building industry, contributing to a better, more eco-friendly world.
In Conclusion
Thank you for following along to the end of this article! If you’re inspired by the possibilities of a career in interior design, you might have the skills and passion needed to succeed in this dynamic field.
If you enjoyed this article, you may also like this one:
7 Amazing Things to Love About Interior Design
Looking for a good interior design study program? Check out:
How to Get a Diploma in Interior Design Totally Online from Anywhere
Are you looking for a scholarship program? Check out this resource.
Which of the nine reasons for learning interior design resonated with you the most? I’d love to know!
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