10 Steps to a Job as an Interior Decorator

Imagine having a career that lets you use your creativity to make homes and businesses more beautiful and comfortable. Welcome to the world of interior decorating!

Click Here to Discover How to Become an Interior Decorator

There are few careers that offer so many benefits. As an interior decorator you will have the satisfaction of making your vision a reality. You will meet interesting people, and because many people who hire interior decorators are wealthy, you will likely spend time in many beautiful homes and businesses. If you start your own decorating business you can enjoy the freedom of being your own boss. And perhaps most importantly, your "work" will be fun, interesting, and rewarding.

As long as you have the desire, you can become an interior decorator. No special education or experience is necessary to break into this career and succeed. (Unlike becoming a certified interior designer which has strict requirements including two to five years of post-secondary education in interior design.) You can become an interior decorator immediately.

If interior decorating sounds like the career of your dreams, here are 10 steps to breaking into this fabulous job, based on the FabJob Guide to Become an Interior Decorator:

1. Train your eye

Since you are interested in a career as a interior decorator, chances are you already have a “good eye” for design. In other words, when you look at a room you can see what looks good, and what could be improved. But no matter how naturally talented you are, you can continually “train your eye" by studying what people consider to be good design.

Seek out beautifully decorated interiors to look at. You can find numerous examples of beautiful interiors in design magazines or in your own community by visiting show homes, open houses for sale in wealthy neighborhoods, furniture showrooms, historic homes, art galleries, and offices of professionals such as interior decorators and corporate lawyers.

2. Educate yourself

Interior decorators are expected to know about the various elements involved in decorating such as: space planning (how to arrange furniture and other items within a particular space), use of color and light, furniture and decorating styles (for example, Colonial or Southwestern), floorings, wall coverings, window treatments, and use of accessories such as pillows and art. You can learn decorating basics through courses, books, web sites, and even by speaking with retailers of products used in home decorating (paint, carpet, lighting, hardware stores, etc.)

3. Practice at home

Most interior decorators get their first decorating experience working on their own homes. Even if you have just one small room to experiment with, you can get “hands-on” experience with a variety of decorating techniques. For example, you can make a dramatic change to any room, quickly and inexpensively, simply by rearranging the furniture or painting the walls a new color. Give it a try! Experiment with techniques you wouldn’t ordinarily use. Consider this room your “research lab” where you can try things out before recommending them to a client.

4. Volunteer your services

Your friends and family members may already have asked for your advice about decorating, but if they haven’t yet asked you to actually decorate their homes or businesses, why not offer?

Some occasions your family or friends may want to redecorate are when they experiencing transitions in life, such as: marriage or co-habitation (help them merge two households into one), moving into a new home, childbirth (offer to decorate the baby’s room), hosting a special event such as a wedding or dinner party, starting a home business (you could decorate their new office), and selling a home (explain how a well decorated home can attract buyers).

5. Prepare a portfolio

A portfolio is a collection of samples of your work, plus any other documents that can help show why someone should hire you. The most important part of an interior decorator's portfolio is photographs of interiors you have decorated, so make sure you take "before” and “after” photos of every space you decorate. Choose 15-20 photographs of work you are proud of, and arrange them in a photo album or portfolio case.

Your portfolio can also include letters of recommendation and "design boards" (poster boards onto which you have pasted pictures and samples of materials such as fabrics, flooring, wallpaper, etc.) to show clients what you recommend to decorate a particular room.

6. Get a job

Even if you plan to start your own interior decorating business, you can learn about the business and meet potential clients by starting with a job in the industry. Companies that hire people with decorating talent include home builders, manufacturers of furniture and housewares, hotel and restaurant chains, retailers (furniture stores, home improvement stores, antiques dealers, housewares stores, etc.), plus interior design and decorating firms.

To get a job, you will need to prepare a resume that emphasizes your experience with decorating plus any other skills the employer is looking for, such as customer service or organizational ability.

7. Start your own business

Many interior decorators dream of being their own boss. If that's your goal, you'll need to decide on business matters such as your company's name and whether to incorporate or not. Free basic business advice is available from organizations such as SCORE and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Many interior decorators choose to work from home when they start their businesses because it saves on the cost of an office and, unlike many other types of businesses, you won’t be expecting clients to come to you – you will usually be going to their homes or offices.

8. Establish relationships with suppliers

Suppliers are companies that supply the products and services you need to decorate. They include manufacturers of furniture, wall coverings, flooring, fabrics, etc. as well as contractors who do painting, carpentry, installation, etc. When you go shopping as a professional interior decorator, you are entitled to “designer discounts” of up to 50% off the regular retail price which you can pass on to clients.

While some decorators charge an hourly rate or a flat fee, others charge "cost-plus." For example, if your cost for a product is 40% percent below the regular retail price, you could charge the client your cost plus 20%, thereby saving the client the other 20% they would pay to buy the same item at a retail store. This opportunity to save money on decorating may convince clients to hire you.

9. Get clients

Your potential clients could include home builders, new home buyers, wealthy home owners, professional couples, advertising agencies, art galleries, bed and breakfasts, boutique stores, corporate head offices, hotels, law firms, restaurants, spas, and many other types of businesses.

One way to market your services is by networking with professionals who can refer business to you, such as real estate agents, architects, antiques dealers, art dealers, home renovators, and owners of businesses that sell home furnishings. Other marketing techniques include putting up a web page with photos of interiors you have decorated and getting publicity in the homes section of your local newspaper.

10. Grow as a professional

Successful interior decorators continue to learn new decorating techniques. Once you have started a business you can continue to develop your skills by attending trade shows, reading decorating magazines and books, and joining professional associations. You can also impress clients and have an advantage over your competition by becoming certified as a professional interior decorator.

Based on the FabJob Guide to Become an Interior Decorator by Tag Goulet and Catherine Goulet. The complete guide gives detailed advice on how you can get paid to decorate homes and businesses, be hired for a job in the decorating industry, or start your own interior decorating business. Click Here to Discover How to Become an Interior Decorator.

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Have you recently started your own small business? Are you thinking about starting one? Do you want to start a small business? Read this article for good information.

Your Success Is Our Success

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TelecommutingPro

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Earn a Very Respectable Income From the Comfort of Your Own Home.

Toni, here.

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There are endless possibilities for Work At Home jobs. A network of Professional Entrepreneurs gathered their products and skills and launched a number of invitation-only parties and vendor shows in which their businesses host private shopping events.

Be creative and give your ideas a chance. Your possibilities are unlimited, too.

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Small Business
by Butch Hamilton

Its obvious that starting a small business these days just makes good sense. Why should you startup a small home business? You will increase your net income. You can dramatically cut your income taxes that you will pay. We have two tax systems. One is for individuals, and one is for businesses. The small business owner pays much less in taxes. Almost anything can be counted as a business expense when you become a small business owner. All you really need to become a business system owner is to prove that you are in that business to make a profit.

The great flexibility that we have in today's business world is the fact that we all the capability of making money online. This move is the best business decision that you will ever make. Have you ever gotten rich working for someone else? If you position yourself correctly and with the right home business, you can be poised to become financially free within the next 5 year period. This is something that you really need to consider carefully.

Finding the right small business venture is critical. There is so much information out on Google about making money, where do you turn to find the best business systems to become involved with?

You need a small business that has a proven and stable track record. Your online business is your life's blood, so there is no need to join something just because you think it might be good. This is where due diligence plays the critical role. You must make the effort to fully check out the business model offered. Do some intensive research about the owner of the company, the compensation plan, how long they have been in business, and even contact members that are already involved with the business to see if its a fit for you.

Once you have begun the process of joining that small business, you then have the full responsibility to become proficient in your pursuit of your dreams and goals. The business should have in place training, great customer support and the leader of the program should always be strategizing new ways to make the system even better. This is building a true business after leaders in the industry have done for years using Fortune 500 Company's techniques. Once you have put all the pieces of your financial business plan into place, you then will hold the keys to your financial future.


About the Author Butch Hamiltonbutchhamilton.jag@info.trafficwave.net