Did You Know?
A single large-scale interior design project, like a hotel or hospital, can involve managing hundreds of different vendors, thousands of individual material and furniture selections, and budgets that run into the tens of millions of dollars.
The Numbers Behind the Career
There were about 74,100 interior designer jobs in the U.S. in 2024.
The 2024 median annual salary for interior designers was $63,210.
About 6,700 interior designer job openings are projected each year over the next decade.
Where This Career Is Headed
Interior design is being reshaped by technology, sustainability demands, and a deeper understanding of how the spaces we inhabit affect our mental and physical health. AI-powered visualization tools are transforming how designers present concepts, allowing clients to virtually walk through a space before a single wall is painted. The urgent push toward sustainable building practices is creating strong demand for designers who understand low-carbon materials, biophilic design, and energy-efficient interior systems. Meanwhile, the explosion of remote work and flexible living arrangements is prompting designers to rethink how homes, offices, and shared spaces can serve multiple purposes at once. Designers who can blend technological fluency with environmental responsibility and deep human empathy will shape the spaces where the next generation lives, works, and recovers.
The growing recognition that interior spaces directly affect mental health, productivity, and healing is driving new investment in evidence-based design across hospitals, schools, workplaces, and senior living facilities.
Sustainable and circular design practices, including material reuse, low-VOC finishes, and energy-conscious lighting systems, are increasingly required by clients and building codes, creating opportunity for designers who lead in this area.
The rise of short-term rental platforms and boutique hospitality has created booming demand for distinctive, highly designed spaces that generate strong visual identities and social media presence.
Education & Certification
Most professional interior designers hold a bachelor's degree in interior design or a closely related field from a program accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). These programs cover space planning, drafting, materials and textiles, architectural history, building codes, lighting design, and computer-aided design software. An associate's degree from an accredited program can serve as an entry point, though a bachelor's degree is increasingly expected by employers and clients in commercial and high-end residential markets. Graduate degrees in interior design or related fields like environmental psychology or sustainable design are valuable for designers who want to specialize in research, academia, or complex institutional projects.
The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam is the gold-standard professional credential for interior designers in North America. Passing this exam, which requires a combination of accredited education and documented work experience, qualifies designers for licensure in many states and demonstrates competency in the health, safety, and welfare requirements that govern professional interior design practice. Many designers also pursue specialized credentials in areas like sustainable design (LEED AP), lighting design (LC), or healthcare design (CHID) to strengthen their expertise and stand out in competitive markets.
To Prepare...
Take classes in visual arts, drafting, and computer design to build foundational skills in drawing, spatial thinking, and visual communication.
Study the rooms and buildings around you intentionally: notice what makes a space feel inviting or uncomfortable, efficient or awkward, and start developing vocabulary for describing what you observe.
Look into pre-college summer programs offered by design schools and universities, which give students hands-on exposure to interior design studios, materials, and professional practice.
Spotlight: Explore the Life of a Interior Designer
Explore more resources for a future Interior Designer
The Draper Touch: The High Life and High Style of Dorothy Draper
Varney, Carleton
Why We Picked It
Career Connection
Interior designers make deliberate, courageous choices about space, color, and atmosphere to create rooms that feel alive and beautiful, and Draper's career shows what happens when a designer commits fully and fearlessly to their own creative vision.
Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind: An Interior Design Book
Berk, Bobby
Why We Picked It
Career Connection
Interior designers consider both how a space looks and how it feels to inhabit it, and Berk's practical, psychology-informed approach introduces young readers to the essential idea that truly great interiors serve both the eye and the mind.
A Frame for Life: The Designs of StudioIlse
Crawford, Ilse | Heathcote, Edwin
Why We Picked It
Career Connection
Interior designers determine how people feel in the spaces they move through every day, and Crawford's portfolio shows how rigorous philosophical thinking about human needs consistently produces design that is beautiful precisely because it is genuinely useful.