Many interior design schools are 4-year schools where you can study several different majors within interior design. Interior decorating, interior design, set design, commercial interior design, exhibit design, lighting design and space planner are all possible interior design majors. The spaces in which an interior design degree may prepare you to work can vary from home to industry to theatre to museums to public buildings.
You may earn a certificate, an Associates, a Bachelors of Arts, a Bachelors of Fine Arts or a Masters of Fine Arts in interior design on campus or online. Certificate and Associates degree programs may help you break into the interior design field if you are already working. The certificate also allows you to continue on in a Bachelors degree of interior design program. The BA and BFA provide a strong basis from which to pursue an interior design career. The MFA provides specialized training in interior design.
You may find that your ideal interior design program is combined with other departments at a design program, and you may be required to take some courses in these other departments as well. These departments and classes may include: Architecture and Architectural Drafting, Environmental Design, Interior Architecture and Design, Sustainable Systems, Design and Technology, Kitchen and Bath Design, Floral Design, Drama and Theatre Arts or Interior Design and Decorating.
Some interior design colleges combine interior design with another major or require you to take classes that are not specifically interior design. These experiences can open up your design world and expose you to specializations within the field. For example, if you like designing interiors and then tearing them down and designing something completely different, you might specialize in set design course in a theatre arts program. If you like considering how exteriors and interiors influence one another, an environmental design or interior architecture and design program may fit your needs perfectly.
Many 4-year interior design schools require you to complete an internship. Some students will intern with interior design firms. While some schools have established a list of acceptable internships, others will let you create your own. Opportunities to design sets will more likely be found at community theatre arts programs than at an interior design firm. An opportunity to design a sustainable system may be found at an environmental or interior architecture firm or within a public project on green housing. Use your internship to obtain a possible assistantship after graduation. Many people work where they interned after graduation or have used internship contacts to find a post-graduate assistantship.