Interior Designers

Plan, design, and furnish the internal space of rooms or buildings. Design interior environments or create physical layouts that are practical, aesthetic, and conducive to the intended purposes. May specialize in a particular field, style, or phase of interior design.

Most important skills

Reading Comprehension
Active Listening
Speaking
Critical Thinking
Social Perceptiveness
Coordination
Service Orientation
Writing

Key knowledge

Design
Customer and Personal Service
Building and Construction
English Language
Sales and Marketing
Administration and Management
Computers and Electronics
Public Safety and Security

What the work involves

Estimate material requirements and costs, and present design to client for approval.
Confer with client to determine factors affecting planning of interior environments, such as budget, architectural preferences, purpose, and function.
Advise client on interior design factors, such as space planning, layout and use of furnishings or equipment, and color coordination.
Select or design, and purchase furnishings, art work, and accessories.
Formulate environmental plan to be practical, esthetic, and conducive to intended purposes, such as raising productivity or selling merchandise.
Subcontract fabrication, installation, and arrangement of carpeting, fixtures, accessories, draperies, paint and wall coverings, art work, furniture, and related items.
Render design ideas in form of paste-ups or drawings.
Coordinate with other professionals, such as contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to ensure job success.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Artistic, Realistic, Conventional.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Bachelor's Degree (84% of respondents)
Related experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (36%)
On-the-job training: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (24%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Interior Designers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	High	Higher on contact with others than 60% of occupations compared	72% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	High	Higher on dealing with the public than 73% of occupations compared	40% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	High	Higher on teamwork than 67% of occupations compared	67% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important”
Freedom to make decisions	Low	Lower on freedom to make decisions than 72% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom”
Time pressure	High	Higher on time pressure than 73% of occupations compared	44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day”
Conflict situations	Moderate	Higher on conflict situations than 56% of occupations compared	48% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Moderate	Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 59% of occupations compared	46% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	Very low	Lower on consequence of error than 82% of occupations compared	38% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: high
Conflict situations: moderate
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
Consequence of error: very low

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions