Sometimes with Design, It's the Little Things

Two design jobs show the benefit of accepting smaller design projects.

by Joe Cooper
Interior Design School Search Columnist

Learning how to become an independent interior designer is part of interior design school, but here’s a tip to consider as you start your design career:taking on projects with small budgets can often help sharpen your innovative design skills, and can also lead to future business.

Small Can be Significant in Interior Design

Not all interior design jobs are big. Some designers accept all types of jobs when establishing a client base and helping homeowners redesign and redecorate their homes.

Mark de la Vina, a writer for the San Jose Mercury News, recently requested the help of two California interior designers to help his design-challenged home. He asked for their advice on two budget levels: of $1,500, and $500. In a time when homeowners spend more money than ever remodeling their homes, a budget of $1,500 is quite small. Still, by accepting the small jobs, both designers were able to create an inexpensive interior design that better reflected Mark’s personality.

Recreating and Repurposing in Interior Design

The way these designers handled this unique design challenge was resourceful and innovative. Small design jobs are often all about effective use of space and furniture. The designers found designs they loved, like a designer chair for $700, and added a daybed and velvet ottomans from Target and Crate & Barrel, bypassing the offerings of more expensive design boutiques.

Interior Design Career: Small Projects and Future Business

Even with small projects, designers can move away from what is “eclectic” (design language for cluttered or disorganized) and develop a color scheme and a spatial plan for a room or home.

These smaller projects don’t generally involve architecture or layout changes, but instead help build a client base and may create future business. The clients who hire you simply to redecorate the living room may call you years down the road they are renovating their entire second floor.

About the Author

Joe Cooper writes home services and design articles and edits medical literature. He holds a bachelor’s in American Literature from UCLA.

Source(s)

“Interior designers stress focus for inexpensive makeover,” AZCentral.com

Posted on August 2, 2007 at 3:23 PM

Share this article: