Great Interior Designers Need Great People Skills
By Dawn Westdawn.west@interiordesignschoolreview.com
You can be a brilliant interior designer and create a beautiful space that just about anyone would love, but it if it isn't what your client wanted, no one will be happy. An eye for design and the skills to execute your creative vision are essential to your career as an interior designer. But so is the ability to listen to your clients, to communicate your ideas, and to work together to come up with a plan they love.
Here's a scenario every interior designer wants to avoid -- your clients walk into the rooms you've just spent months and months and thousands and thousands of dollars designing, and instead of the applause you're expecting you turn to see their furious eyes glaring at you -- This isn't what we wanted. Avoiding this ugly scene comes down to planning and people skills.
Learn more about The Art Institute Online's Bachelor Degree program in Interior Design.
Avoiding Surprises
One of the ways you can ensure you never find yourself facing disgruntled clients is regular communication. Listening carefully in initial meetings so that you really understand your clients' tastes, budget, and the function of the space they're asking you to design will help eliminate most major misunderstandings. Checking in throughout the project with plans, sample colors, and textile samples is another important part of working successfully with clients. The more communication you have along the way, the greater the odds your clients will love your work.Working on a Team
Interior designers are only one part of the team that creates the final interior. Listening to and communicating your ideas to a client is just part of the picture. Managing relationships with contractors, communicating with architects and other designers or decorators, and working well with suppliers will help keep your projects on track.While you're in interior design school, you'll develop your design skills, learn how to use the latest in design software, and practice developing and implementing plans over and over again. Just make sure you also practice listening and communicating. They're skills no interior designer can succeed without.
About the Author:
Dawn West teaches writing at Oregon State University. Her previous experience includes working for the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, a not-for-profit in New York City, and serving as the director for an educational program for at-risk youth in Boston. Dawn holds a B.A. in English from Harvard University.
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