Overview
Interior Design is a professional discipline that shapes the built environment at the human scale—designing functional, safe, aesthetically compelling, and psychologically supportive interior spaces. It goes far beyond decoration, encompassing spatial planning, materials science, lighting design, building codes and regulations, environmental sustainability, and an understanding of how spaces affect human behaviour, health, and well-being.
The curriculum covers design fundamentals (space planning, colour theory, form, and proportion), technical drawing and CAD/BIM software (AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp), materials and finishes, lighting design, furniture design, building systems and codes, sustainable design (LEED, WELL Building Standard), and design history and theory. Studios form the core of the degree, where students develop projects from concept through to detailed design, construction documentation, and client presentation. Many programmes include internships with design firms, architects, or developers.
Top global programmes include the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, consistently ranked among the world's best design schools, known for rigorous studio culture and cross-disciplinary exploration), Pratt Institute (New York-based powerhouse with excellent industry connections and practitioner faculty), Politecnico di Milano (Italy's leading design institution, combining Italian design heritage with cutting-edge research), the Royal College of Art (London's postgraduate-focused institution at the forefront of design innovation), and Parsons School of Design (strong integration of sustainability, technology, and social impact in design education).
Graduates work as interior designers, space planners, lighting designers, set designers, exhibition designers, furniture designers, and sustainability consultants. The profession is growing as awareness of wellness-focused and sustainable design increases, and as computational design tools open new creative possibilities.
Career Outcomes & Salary
What jobs can I get and how much will I earn?
$40,000–$60,000 (US) / £22,000–£32,000 (UK) / A$45,000–$62,000 (Australia)
$60,000–$100,000 (US) / £35,000–£60,000 (UK)
$90,000–$180,000+ (US)
Steady with growth in workplace, hospitality, and healthcare design. The post-pandemic redesign of offices, the global hotel construction boom, and healthcare facility expansion are driving demand. Sustainability expertise (WELL, LEED) and digital skills (BIM, real-time rendering) significantly increase employability and earning potential.
Industry Trends & Outlook
Where is this field heading?
Sustainability and biophilic design have moved from trendy buzzwords to core principles shaping every interior design project. Clients increasingly demand materials with verified environmental certifications (FSC timber, Cradle to Cradle, low-VOC finishes), and designers must navigate complex sustainability standards like LEED, WELL Building Standard, and BREEAM. Biophilic design—integrating natural elements, daylight, greenery, natural materials, and views of nature into interior spaces—has been validated by research showing measurable improvements in occupant wellbeing, productivity, and stress reduction. Adaptive reuse—converting existing buildings (warehouses, churches, factories) into new uses—is booming, driven by both sustainability imperatives and the aesthetic appeal of preserved industrial character.
AI and digital tools are transforming how interior designers visualize, present, and deliver their work. AI rendering tools can generate photorealistic interior visualizations from rough sketches or text descriptions in seconds, dramatically accelerating the concept presentation phase. Virtual reality (VR) allows clients to ‘walk through’ designed spaces before construction begins, improving communication and reducing costly changes during construction. Building Information Modeling (BIM) through software like Revit enables designers to produce coordinated construction documents with embedded material specifications, cost estimates, and sustainability data. However, AI generates generic—often soulless—interiors without human direction; the designer’s role is evolving from drafting to creative direction, spatial storytelling, and curating experiences that reflect specific clients and contexts.
The post-pandemic workplace revolution has created one of the biggest shifts in interior design demand in decades. Companies are redesigning offices to support hybrid work—creating collaboration zones, quiet focus areas, video-conferencing rooms, and flexible hot-desking layouts that justify employees coming to the physical office. Hospitality design is thriving as hotels, restaurants, and experiential retail spaces compete on atmosphere and Instagram-worthy interiors. Wellness-focused design—spaces that support mental and physical health through acoustics, lighting quality, air purification, and spatial layout—is becoming a standard requirement rather than a luxury add-on. Senior living and healthcare design are growing sectors as populations age and evidence-based design demonstrates measurable impacts on patient outcomes.
AI & This Major
AI is assisting with space planning layouts, material selection, and rendering speed, but the core of interior design—understanding client needs, creating atmospheres, selecting materials that feel right, and managing the emotional experience of space—remains fundamentally human. AI tools make designers more productive but don't replace the spatial intuition and aesthetic judgment the profession requires.
What You'll Learn
Core topics and skills covered in this degree
Is This Right For Me?
Honest self-assessment to help you decide
You'll thrive if...
- ✓You notice how spaces make you feel—you walk into a room and instinctively think about how the lighting, layout, and materials create the atmosphere
- ✓You enjoy the interplay of colors, materials, textures, and light—you’re the person who rearranges furniture, picks paint colors, and curates how spaces look and feel
- ✓You like combining creative vision with practical problem-solving—designing spaces that are beautiful but also functional, safe, and accessible
- ✓You enjoy transforming spaces and seeing tangible results—few degrees let you point at a room and say ‘I designed that’
- ✓You’re drawn to both aesthetics and functionality—understanding that great interior design serves people’s needs while creating meaningful experiences
Might not be for you if...
- ●You dislike presenting your work and receiving critical feedback—studio culture involves regular public critiques that can be intense
- ●You’re uncomfortable working within constraints—building codes, fire regulations, accessibility requirements, and budgets significantly shape interior design decisions
- ●You want a predictable 9-to-5 schedule—studio projects and client deadlines often require extended hours, especially before reviews
- ●You prefer purely digital work—interior design involves site visits, material handling, contractor coordination, and physical model-making
- ●You’re primarily interested in surface decoration rather than spatial planning—university-level interior design goes far beyond choosing colors and furniture
A Day in the Life
What a typical week actually looks like
A typical Year 2 week starts Monday in Interior Design Studio III, where your current project is designing a boutique hotel lobby in a converted historic warehouse. You’ve spent weeks researching the building’s history, analyzing the brand identity, and studying how guests move through hotel public spaces. Today you’re developing floor plan options, experimenting with reception desk placement, seating arrangements, and circulation paths. Your professor challenges you to reconsider your lighting strategy during desk critique—how does natural light from the existing industrial windows interact with your proposed artificial lighting scheme, and what mood does each zone need to convey?
Tuesday morning is History of Interior Design and Architecture, covering the Arts and Crafts movement and its lasting influence on honest materials, craftsmanship, and the integration of decorative arts into functional spaces. After lunch, you have Materials and Finishes—a hands-on class where you’re building material sample boards for your hotel project, comparing the tactile qualities of different stone tiles, wood veneers, upholstery fabrics, and wall finishes while considering durability, fire rating, and cost. Wednesday brings Lighting Design—you’re learning about color temperature, lumen calculations, fixture types, and how lighting layers (ambient, task, accent, decorative) create atmosphere. Your assignment involves designing a lighting plan for a restaurant using DIALux software, calculating illuminance levels for different zones.
Thursday is your Computer-Aided Design day: a morning Revit workshop where you’re building a 3D BIM model of your hotel lobby, and an afternoon AutoCAD session producing construction drawings with proper dimensioning, section cuts, and finish schedules. Friday morning features a pin-up review where all studio students present their progress—you pin up your floor plans, perspective sketches, material boards, and a physical study model on the crit wall, and the class spends two hours discussing each project’s strengths and weaknesses. The rest of Friday and the weekend are for refining your design based on feedback, building a more detailed scale model from foam board and basswood, and rendering interior perspectives in Enscape or V-Ray for next week’s presentation to a guest critic from industry.
High School Preparation
What to study and do before university
Skills to Develop
- •Learn basic hand drafting and perspective drawing—practice sketching interior spaces from observation, focusing on proportion, light, and spatial depth
- •Learn SketchUp (free) or Revit through online tutorials to develop 3D space modeling skills—these are industry-standard tools
- •Study interior design through publications like Dezeen, ArchDaily, and Architectural Digest—analyze how designers use space, light, materials, and color
- •Create mood boards and material palettes for imagined renovation projects—practice selecting and combining finishes, textures, and colors for specific design concepts
Extracurriculars
- •Redesign a room in your home and document the full process from concept to execution—photos, sketches, material selections, and a written rationale
- •Enter student design competitions such as the IIDA Student Design Competition or local architecture/design contests
- •Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity or community space improvement projects to understand how design impacts real people
- •Intern or shadow at an interior design firm during school breaks to understand professional practice
- •Build a physical or digital portfolio of space design concepts showing your ability to think about how people experience rooms and environments
How This Compares to Similar Majors
Side-by-side with related fields
Getting In — Admissions Guide
How competitive is this major and how to stand out
Interior design programmes range from moderate to high competitiveness depending on the institution. Top programmes include Pratt Institute (New York), Parsons School of Design (New York), the Royal College of Art (London), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and the Florence Institute of Design International. Portfolio quality is typically the primary selection criterion.
What Strengthens Your Application
- 1A portfolio demonstrating spatial awareness, drawing ability, and creative thinking about interior spaces
- 2Evidence of understanding the difference between decoration and design—showing spatial planning, not just surface styling
- 3Hand-drawing and sketching skills—perspective drawing of interior spaces is particularly valued
- 4Awareness of architecture and design through visiting buildings, reading design publications, and analyzing spaces critically
- 5Any renovation, redesign, or space-improvement project you’ve undertaken—even small-scale—documented with process and rationale
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- ●Submitting a portfolio that shows only ‘mood boards’ or Pinterest collections without evidence of spatial thinking, technical drawing, or design process
- ●Confusing interior design with interior decorating—your application should show awareness of spatial planning, user needs, and technical requirements
- ●Neglecting to demonstrate how people experience and move through spaces—good interior design is about human behavior, not just aesthetics
Interview & Admission Tests
Some programmes conduct portfolio interviews where you discuss your design thinking and creative process. Be prepared to explain your design decisions and respond to hypothetical design scenarios—for example, how you would redesign a specific type of space for a particular user group.
Portfolio Required
Most programmes require a portfolio showing spatial awareness, drawing ability, and creative thinking. Include 10–15 pieces: interior sketches, floor plans, 3D models, material explorations, and any completed renovation or redesign projects. Show your design process, not just final images.
Related Majors
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you study in Interior Design?
Interior Design is a professional discipline that shapes the built environment at the human scale—designing functional, safe, aesthetically compelling, and psychologically supportive interior spaces. It goes far beyond decoration, encompassing spatial planning, materials science, lighting design, building codes and regulations, environmental sustainability,…
What can you do after a Interior Design degree?
Typical entry-level roles: Junior Interior Designer, Design Assistant, CAD Technician (Interiors), FF&E Coordinator, Visualisation Designer (starting salary $40,000–$60,000 (US) / £22,000–£32,000 (UK) / A$45,000–$62,000 (Australia)). Key industries: Commercial & Workplace Design, Hospitality (Hotels, Restaurants, Bars), Residential Design (High-End), Retail & Brand Experience, Healthcare & Wellness Facilities. Steady with growth in workplace, hospitality, and healthcare design. The post-pandemic redesign of offices, the global hotel construction boom, and healthcare f…
Which high-school courses prepare you for Interior Design?
Recommended IB courses: HL Visual Arts, HL Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, HL Design Technology; Recommended AP courses: AP Studio Art: Drawing or 2-D Design, AP Art History, AP Physics 1; Recommended A-Levels: Art & Design, Design & Technology, Mathematics.
Want to prepare for Interior Design?
Our education consultants can help you explore your interests, pick the right subjects, and build a strong application.