Interior Design: The Trunk of a Career Tree

An interior design career can take a designer in a number of directions, from architecture to real estate. An education in interior design can offer creative designers a number of job options at any point in their careers.

Marian Scalmanini, a native of Ukiah, CA, started off as “just” a designer. Then, in the middle of her interior design career, she wanted something new.

“I realized friends were calling to ask my advice and thought maybe I could actually do this for a living,” Ms. Scalmanini told the Ukiah Daily Journal this year.

After that, she diversified her own interior design business into four major interior design services: interior design, space planning, professional organizing, and real estate staging.

A Diversified Interior Design Career

Interior design services stretch much farther than choosing wall placement and color. Check out the four areas of interior design service that Ms. Scalmanini chose to go into:

• Interior Design
  Working with architects to design interior space, and then designing the style of the room through color and furnishings, Ms. Scalmanini still offers her conventional interior design service to clients.
• Space Planning
  The US Census Bureau has estimated that homeowners will spend around $210 billion on remodeling their homes this year. Many of these homeowners could use a good interior designer to help with planning their projects.
• Professional Organizing
  Many individuals and businesses have big organization needs that can be filled by interior designers. There is even an association of Professional Organizers, and joining it helps designers network and pool resources.
• Real Estate Staging
  With the real estate market slowing down, homeowners need every advantage they can get to make their home the most marketable. Real estate staging is an interior design service that involves arranging furniture, lighting, and color to attract buyer interest.

Sources

The Ukiah Daily Journal
Nation’s Building News