Interior design can look like a glamorous career from the outside and there is a lot to enjoy about it.
BUT...the reality of working as a designer is very different to just having a "passion for interiors".
Lots of people are drawn to the creative challenge of design and they think it will be fun, but they don't realise there are a lot of other risks and stresses involved with working as a designer.
You are dealing with clients who change their minds, builders who need constant answers, suppliers who let you down, budgets that go over, deadlines that move and hundreds of decisions where getting something wrong can be very expensive.
Basically being good at design is only one (quite small!) part of being good at this job.
Here's what they don't tell you about it...
Clients are hard work!!!
Clients normally like their designer the most of all the people involved in their project :)
This sounds like a good thing, but it actually means you can often be put in difficult positions where clients don't know (or respect) what you're responsible for and what is the responsibility of someone else involved in the project. Overstepping boundaries puts you and your business at risk and this can be stressful to deal with.
You will also have to meet very high expectations from clients and this creates a lot of pressure. You're working on their most expensive asset (their home or place of business) so this is not something to take lightly. Being able to manage clients requires nuanced communication and negotiation skills.
From time to time you'll also find that your vision won't align with your client's. Trying to reconcile their ideas with your professional recommendations and guiding them away from making bad choices takes a high level of diplomacy (which comes with practice).
Because design is creative work, it can be difficult not to take things personally. You can spend hours working on something you genuinely think is great only to have a client say they don't like it and ask to see another option.
It's easy to get emotionally invested in your projects. Unlike many other professions, design is a creative art as well as a service. You'll spend a lot of time thinking about projects and whether the decisions you're making are going to be right for the space.
Criticism or negative feedback can feel very personal and changes can be difficult to accept, especially when you don't necessarily agree with some of the ideas clients want to implement. When clients request changes there is an emotional and logistical toll. It's not just a matter of tweaking a design, it can mean questioning the entire creative direction, which can be mentally exhausting (and also take a lot of time!).
You'll also have a lot of sleepless nights worrying about whether a coffee table is going to look too small in a room!! :)
Mistakes are scary
Mistakes can have serious consequences, both legally and in terms of the project's success. This is one of the most stressful parts of working as a designer.
Mistakes in sign offs, design choices, selection of inappropriate materials, copyright issues or mismanaged contracts can lead to serious and very stressful legal problems and lawsuits.
A significant error can harm your reputation and affect future client relationships e.g. by leading to negative reviews or poor word of mouth.
Mistakes may require expensive fixes and if the designer is at fault it will be their responsibility to pay for and this can lead to major profitability issues if they aren't correctly insured.
If you're not organised, you will struggle
Projects always come with strict deadlines. You'll have to be able to balance multiple projects at a time, each with its own set of deadlines, expectations and client personalities. Then there are supplier delays, approvals delays, resource scarcity and revisions. If clients take too long to review or approve your designs this can throw out your workflow and project timeline for other projects.
Also..often none of those delays are actually within your control!! That's another difficult part of the job that probably isn't obvious from the outside.
You will be responsible for keeping a project moving forward while relying on dozens of other people to actually make that happen (many who run bad businesses, which is really frustrating).
There's also lots of context switching. One minute you're reviewing joinery drawings, then answering a client email, then dealing with a discontinued product, then approving a stone slab, then pricing a new enquiry. That mental load builds up quickly.
You mostly can't design what you want because of the BUDGET!!
As a designer your job is to create aesthetically pleasing and functional spaces within the confines of a budget.
You may be forced to opt for lower quality products or materials, which can be annoying if you have a particular vision in mind that you can deliver.
You also need strong product knowledge in order to come up with novel solutions to meet budget constraints. When clients want luxury finishes but you need to scale back due to budget this can result in clients feeling let down by the result, even though it's a budget issue not a design issue.
On top of all of that you have to make the business work
If you run your own studio, you also have to find the clients, convert the enquiries, price your work properly, manage your cash flow and somehow make a profit at the end of it all.
For those who run their own business there are financial pressures like overheads, employee salaries and the constant need to find new clients to sustain the business.
Economic downturns, changes in consumer preferences and other market variables will also influence client demand and this causes financial instability and increased stress levels.
This is why I always think it's best to be working at the top end of the market. You then have less chance of taking on the volatility of the middle and bottom of the market in slower periods.
These financial pressures contribute to the overall stress of working as a designer because they require not only design skills but sales and business knowledge that many designers don't have.
There's also a big difference between having lots of work and running a profitable studio. You can have lots of projects, work ridiculous hours and still make almost no money once everything has been paid.
Being good at design isn't enough
Basically being good at design is only one (quite small!) part of being good at this job.
You also need technical skills, business skills, organisation, confidence with clients and the ability to make good decisions when there is a lot of money on the line.
This isn't intended to put you off, it's just helping you go into it with your eyes open.
Just sharing this because most other people won't :)
