How to be a Freelance Interior Designer

Freelance Interior Designer

If you are innovative, a success, have an eye for fashion, and work well with people and are looking to start a freelance business for yourself you may want to think a career as an interior designer.There are just about 72,000 interior designers in the U.S. presently. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics guesses that this number will boost by 19% from 2006 to 2016 and has a quicker than average employment growth prospective. Just about 26% of interior designers are self employed, 26% work in dedicated design services and the remaining offer design services in architectural and landscape architectural services, furniture and home-furnishing/, building material and supplies dealers, and residential building construction companies. Lots of the interior designers also do freelance work on the side in addition to holding a salaried position.

Some of the abilities that make an excellent freelance interior designer include: reading blueprints, understanding building and fire codes, and making spaces available to the disabled. Freelance Interior design also must work together with architects, electricians, and building contractors to make sure that designs are secure and rally construction obligations.

Freelance Interior Design

1. Train your eye:

Since you are involved in a freelance career as an interior designer, chances are you already have a “good eye” for design. In other words, when you look at a room you can see what looks excellent, and what could be enhanced. But no matter how naturally talented you are, you can frequently “train your eye” by studying what people believe to be good design. Look for beautifully decorated interiors to look at. You can find many examples of gorgeous interiors in design magazines or in your own community by visiting show homes, open houses for sale in rich neighborhoods, furniture showrooms, historic homes, art galleries, and offices of professionals such as interior decorators and corporate lawyers.

2. Educate yourself:

freelance interior design are probable to recognize about the different elements involved in decorating such as: space planning, use of color and light, furniture and decorating styles, floorings, wall coverings, window treatments, and use of accessories such as pillows and art. You can learn decorating essentials through courses, books, web sites, and even by speaking with retailers of products used in home decorating.

3. Practice at home

A good number of freelance interior decorators get their initial decorating experience working on their own homes. Even if you have just one small room to testing with, you can get “hands-on” experience with an assortment of decorating techniques.

4. Volunteer your services

Your friends and family members may already have asked for your advice about decorating but if they haven’t yet asked you to really decorate their homes or businesses, why not offer?Some times your family or friends may want to redecorate are when they experiencing transitions in life, such as: marriage or co-habitation, moving into a new home, childbirth, hosting a special event such as a wedding or dinner party, starting a home business , and selling a home .

5. Prepare a portfolio

A portfolio is a set of samples of your work, plus any other documents that can help show why someone should employ you. The most significant part of an interior designer’s portfolio is photographs of interiors you have decorated, so make sure you take “before” and “after” photos of every space you decorate. Choose 15-20 photographs of work you are proud of, and arrange them in a photo album or portfolio case.

6. Get clients:

After starting up your freelance interior design business your first priority is to get your potential clients. Your clients could include home builders, new home buyers, wealthy home owners, professional couples, advertising agencies, art galleries, bed and breakfasts, boutique stores, corporate head offices, hotels, law firms, restaurants, spas, and many other types of businesses. Other marketing techniques comprise putting up a web page with photos of interiors you have decorated and getting exposure in the homes section of your local newspaper.

7. Grow as a professional:

Successful freelance interior designer persist to learn new decorating methods. Once you have started a business you can carry on to develop your abilities by attending trade shows, reading decorating magazines and books, and joining professional relations. You can also amaze clients and have an advantage over your competition by becoming specialized as a professional freelance interior design.

I hope these essential steps will help you to become a successful freelance interior design.