Reviewed By

Brinda Goswami

Verified Expert in Interior Design

As a founder of iii studio, Brinda has designed and executed over 100+ projects with a special focus on luxurious residential designing. She is the owner & principal designer at iii studio, Hyderabad.

Home » Interior Design » The Pros and Cons of Being An Interior Designer

Pros and Cons of Being An Interior Designer

A profession in interior designing can turn out to be extremely lucrative, entertaining, and secure. Individuals, brands, and enterprises will always trust qualified interior designers’ abilities, talents, and expertise to get the job done.

Being an interior decorator signifies striving for perfection in every aspect. It’s a dynamic occupation that requires continuous learning and updating while constantly knowing about new trends and designs. Since being an interior decorator means keeping up with the trend, one must never stop after learning a few concepts thoroughly.

Also, not every customer or space is the same; each has its own set of expectations and requirements. Just as every job comes with a set of pros and cons, so does being an interior designer. In this article, we will talk about the pros and cons of being an interior designer.

Read also – What Does An Interior Designer Do?

Advantages of Working as a Professional Interior Designer

The ability to be creative and bring a concept to life through interior design is a big skill of interior designers

As an interior designer, you have the power to transform a simple side table into a unique piece of artwork or utility. 

Here are some of the things you can look forward to by working as an interior designer.

1. It’s a Cool Profession

Your profession as an interior designer can take you on many adventures, some you may have never experienced before. You may get opportunities to travel abroad or work with some internationally acclaimed artists, designers, firms, and professionals. 

The fact that you can create something from scratch and bring out a unique look in someone’s house and their life is art in itself. Plus, you can start building your interior design career even after completing a bachelor’s degree because there is much to learn once you are in the field. 

Read also – How To Start An Interior Design Business?

advantages of interior designer

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2. It’s a Growing Industry

The global interior designing industry is expected to cross $210 billion by 2027 from $145.3 billion in 2020. This shows a speculated CAGR of 5.5% in seven years. Some of the factors leading to this growth are:

  • Changes in the social environment lead to a change in living standards. 
  • These changes are more specifically prevalent in the millennials who are drawn towards better living standards because of their high-earning professions.

The entire interior design sector is huge. There are many domains like residential, businesses, corporates, and events of all sizes. As a result, it is an industry with limitless possibilities for people with the necessary skills, expertise, and ingenuity.

Read also – Types of Interior Design Businesses

pros of being an interior designer

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3. Enhances your Creativity

The interior design business is one of the industries that lets you explore your artistic expression and creativity. It’s one thing to have a blank canvas, but when your canvas is a whole interior living environment, you can really stretch your creativity and imagination.

You can build a unique sense of designing and planning. There are a lot of permutations and combinations to work with. You can find the ideal combination of different design elements for the project. You have many options in terms of color patterns, items you can use, and designs you can create to build what you think is best according to the client’s requirements. 

Even though there are some clients that are more choosy when it comes to what suits their style than others, with time, you will learn to gain creative control. Moreover, once you have built your name in the industry, the chances of a client giving unsolicited advice will reduce because they will trust your judgment more than theirs.

Read also – 10 Most Popular Types of Interior Design Styles

enhances creativity

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4. It's a Satisfactory Profession

Nothing can match the satisfaction of realizing that your creative vision and perspective can impress the clients in the process. There’s also the gratification of knowing that your efforts may have permanently turned the existing floor plan into something spectacular.

At the end of the day, your client’s acceptance of your vision and thought process matters to a great extent. Money is there, but inspiring someone to appreciate your work is a great feeling. 

Read also – 13 Expert Tips To Get New Clients for Your Interior Design Business

satisfactory profession - interior design

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5. Lucrative Business

Interior designing business is lucrative. You can make a lot of money by working for clients and saving money. Making money can be pretty straightforward here as you charge for the services rendered or draw a salary from the interior design firms

You can also build ties with different vendors and suppliers to source materials and items while saving money on buying at less and selling at your own price to the client. 

But, as there are two sides to every coin, the interior design profession has some cons too. Like every other profession, there is scope and potential in working as a kitchen designer, home designer, etc., provided you walk on the right path.

lucrative business

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Disadvantages of being an Interior Designer:

1. It's a Stressful Job

Satisfying a client’s specific requirements is not an easy task. Irrespective of the field, no one working wants to hear “I didn’t like it” from their client. 

With interior designing, the stress can climb up even more because you might not get a chance to edit or delete the mistakes. What can you do if the shade of the three-seater is not what the client wanted?

You will have to arrange for the new shade and that too quickly. So, things like these can mount up the stress giving you a hard time at the job.

But a better way to ensure that this never happens is by recording the information and client requirements. Then you can send some samples before beginning the work. 

Stress and pressure can build up over time, making it harder for designers to generate design ideas. Some clients have severe deadlines, and the quantity of work required by the designers necessitates more time. This implies that they may have significant difficulty managing both sides.

However, at the end of the day, remember that you need to solve a problem for your client. You are the solution provider, and they have trusted you for your creativity and ability to deliver. 

So, even though such clients can make your job hard, your take-home lesson is that you will learn every day. This makes you eligible to handle them easily by getting more organized, making the appropriate plans and staying updated with the client’s requirements.

Read also – Self Care for Interior Designers

interior design is stressful job

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2. Problematic Clients

Another one of the disadvantages of being an interior designer is that not every client will be good. Working as an interior designer means you will come across all types of clients, each with their personality and sense of style. Some clients may be laid-back, giving you entire project control and independence.

Working with tough clients means they will always be there in your work and provide unsolicited advice throughout the home design process, which is justifiable but only to the extent that it doesn’t ruin the entire structure.

Plus, some clients are too wary of the design project budget use and want you to give the best work at the lowest cost. If you work as a self-employed interior designer, you will occasionally encounter the “difficult” client who is annoying and has unreasonable expectations. To deal with them, you’ll need a good lot of tact, patience, and the art of subtle persuasion.

Yes, tackling such clients is possible, but that does not mean you won’t have to deal with annoying situations.

Read also – How To Become A Freelance Interior Designer?

problematic clients

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3. Low Income in the Beginning

Interior designing is a highly lucrative business, but it takes some time to build a high income from this profession. Whether you are starting your own thing or have a job in some firm, your pay initially can be less, and that is one of the most prevalent disadvantages of being an interior designer

To earn better, you need to build the right skills that can help you earn more money by working for more clients and customers. Even if you decide to stay in a job, you can learn new skills and bank through it.

There is a lot of room to grow and learn, which means an equal chance to earn more.

Read also – Which Interior Design Jobs Have The Best Pay?

low income in beginning - interior design

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4. It Takes Time

You need time and effort to build a better career in interior designing. The time itself is a disadvantage because you can get discouraged about the fact that “I am not able to make it.” However, you can turn it around by being patient and learning along the way.

Read also – Time Management Tips for Interior Designers

time consuming work - interior design

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5. Long Working Hours

Working for an extended amount of time to ensure that the work gets completed on time is one of the aspects that you may not like about interior designing. People involved in this work environment, even when working in an organization on a payroll, need to put in extra hours of work to create the right graphic design.

Especially during the initial few years when you are trying to build your career, working for long hours is normal, although, it shouldn’t be so. Working long hours disturbs the work-life balance, skews the scales towards work, reduces your focus, leading to a relatively hectic lifestyle.

We have listed some disadvantages of working in the interior design industry, but they are not irrevocable, or you can say that we can always do something to improve them. 

All of the points above are cons of interior design on a broad scale and are related to the profession and the person’s experience. 

So things like supply delays, inability to source the right material, or getting limited material, the client’s inability to make timely payments, not getting the right workforce, vendors, suppliers, textiles, etc., are in-the-job difficulties.

Read also – Time Saving Tips for Interior Designers

long working hours - cons of being an interior designer

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Conclusion

Working as an interior designer, you can be highly successful if you are willing to work your way up and keep working hard throughout your career. It’s a profession that demands personal ingenuity, which is not simple to come by, but it is well worth the effort.

While you will find the entire experience to be highly fulfilling, it will also pave new roads for you to discover and move ahead.

If you have the right business tools, each stage of the interior design process will be easier and more efficient.  Foyr Neo is a one-stop-shop for all your design needs. The multifaceted design software has so many features to choose from that it makes it easier to visualize your design ideas more effectively. 

  • 60K + ready to use products 
  • Build Floor Plans, edit in 3D
  • Drag and Drop Interface
  • 4K Renders in minutes

Furthermore, it doesn’t take up a whole lot of space due to its incredible cloud computing feature. It saves time and money on licensing. Anyone can create absolutely remarkable home designs with these design tools. Foyr Neo is now available for a 14-day free trial, allowing you to explore the potential of infinite creation.

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