Interior Design Courses: Details, Scope, Jobs & Salary

Last Updated on July 28, 2023 by Vishnu Nambiar

Interior Designing, as a profession, is gaining huge popularity in India. It is a profession that lets one express his/her creativity through work! Do you want to pursue Interior Designing course after 12th or after graduation? If yes, this article will be of help to you. I’ve listed down good interior design courses in this article. The article also covers topics like course details, eligibility criteria, admission process, syllabus, pg courses, career prospects and salary details.

Interior design deals with design and decoration of rooms, buildings and built environment in general. It also focuses on design and decoration of exteriors of buildings and built environment.

It is an art that focuses on appropriate use of space, architecture and design to make built environment more attractive, comfortable and ultimately more useful to human beings! Architecture and creative design combines to form the base of interior design. Take the example of a home. It has to be well designed, comfortable and must cater to the basic needs of human beings living in it.

Not only does this art focuses on design and architecture of rooms and built environment, it also covers topics like furniture design, product design, coloring techniques and anything that adds to the style and usability of built environment.

Different types of buildings and their exteriors have a unique style and design. Consider the following examples- homes, offices, bars, hotels, hospitals, gyms, shopping malls and movie theaters- each built environment has its own unique style and design. The design adds to the functionality and usefulness of that building.

In short, principles of interior design are not just limited to decorating homes. Concepts of interior design is applied and used in wide variety of buildings!

An interior designer’s tasks include- site survey, plan reading and analysis, design drawing, client interaction, layout design, material purchase (furniture and other useful products), model creation and project management.

Let us now move to the ‘courses’ section. In the next section, we will be checking out details about interior design courses available in India after 12th and after graduation.

 

List of Interior Design Courses –

In India, when it comes to undergraduate interior design education, three main course formats are available. They are-

• Bachelor’s Degree courses
• Diploma courses
• Certificate courses

 

Let us check out popular interior design courses and check out vital information about them-

 

1 Bachelor’s Degree courses

Some of the well known Bachelor’s Degree courses related to interior design education are-

• BA Interior Design- Duration is 3 years
• Bachelor of Architecture Interior Design- Duration is 5 years
• Bachelor of Interior Design– Duration is 5 years (CEPT course)
• BA Interior Architecture and Design- Duration is 3 years
• Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) Interior Design– Duration is 4 years
• B.Sc. Interior Design- Duration is 3 years

 

Duration: As mentioned above, BA and B.Sc. programs are 3 years long, each. B.Arch. Interior Design course is 5 years long. Bachelor of Interior Design course offered by CEPT institute is 5 years long. Other institutes are known to offer shorter variants of this course, lasting for 3-4 years. Bachelor of Design course is 4 years long.

 

Eligibility criteria: In case of almost all the courses mentioned above, 10+2 passed (any stream- Science, Commerce or Arts) from a recognized board is the minimum qualification required. Minimum marks criteria may exist in case of many institutes. Usually it is around 45-50% aggregate marks.

 

In case of Bachelor of Interior Design course offered by CEPT, 10+2 passed in Science stream with PCM subjects is the minimum qualification required.

 

Admission process: To secure admission in reputed institutes, one must appear for relevant entrance examinations. Some of the well known relevant entrance tests include- NATA, CEED, NID, CEPT entrance test, state-wise entrance tests etc.

 

Most institutes follow ‘merit based admission’ process. Marks scored by students in relevant entrance test and marks scored in board examination are taken into consideration, when it comes to merit based admission. Some institutes are also known to follow ‘direct admission’ process.

 

PG courses and further studies– Graduates may go for relevant Master’s programs such as- MA, M.Sc., Master of Interior Design, Master of Design or M.Arch. program related to interior design and planning. Other than Master’s Degree programs, graduates may also go for PG Diploma as well as PG Certificate courses.

 

MA and M.Sc. programs are 2 years long, each. Master of Design program is 2½ years long. PG courses can be used to specialize in sub disciplines of interior design field such as landscape design, building design, product design, building energy efficiency, sustainable design and technology etc.

 

2 Diploma courses

Some of the well known Diploma courses related to interior design education are-

• Diploma in Interior Design
• Diploma in Interior Design and Architecture

 

Duration: Depending upon the institute and the nature of the program, course duration could be between 1-2 years.

 

Eligibility criteria: 10+2 passed (any stream- Science, Commerce or Arts) from a recognized board is the minimum qualification required. Minimum marks criteria may exist in case of many institutes. Usually it is around 45-50% aggregate marks.

 

Admission process: Depends on the institute. Some institutes follow merit based admission process. Some others go for direct admission process.

 

PG Courses and further studies: After completing a recognized Diploma Interior Design program, one may go for Degree courses like BA, B.Sc. and B.Arch., which are related to interior design and architecture.

 

3 Certificate courses

Other than the above mentioned Bachelor’s Degree and Diploma courses, there also exist many certificate courses related to interior design. Certificate courses are not as valuable as its Degree and Diploma counterparts. But course duration is quite short, when it comes to certificate programs.

 

Some of the popular certificate interior design courses available in India include-

• Certificate in Interior Design
• Certificate in Interior Design and Decoration

 

Duration: Course duration could be anywhere between 6 months to 1 year.

 

Eligibility criteria: 10+2 passed (any stream- Science, Commerce or Arts) from a recognized board. Some institutes also accept 10th passed students.

 

Admission process: Most institutes follow direct admission process.

 

Syllabus

Whatever the course format may be- Degree or Diploma- core subjects remain the same, when it comes to interior design education. Let us take a look at some of the core subjects present in these courses. It will help you understand the course structure in a better manner.

• Construction Technology
• Materials and Finishes
• Colour Theory and Techniques
• Design Technology
• Drawing (Technical)
• Design Practice
• Design Theory
• Communication Skills
• Basics of Interior Design
• Environmental Studies
• Cost Estimation
• Material Purchase
• Furniture Design
• Model Making

Career prospects and job opportunities

Diverse job opportunities exist in front of interior design professionals. They may either choose to work under supervised setup (Design studios and Interior design firms) or work independently. When it comes to Government sector jobs, PWDs, Municipal Corporations and Town Planning Departments are known to hire interior design professionals. They may also become part of Government schemes related to housing and relocation of people.

 

Some of the well known recruiters include-

• Interior Design firms
• Architecture and Design firms
• Infrastructure and Property Developers
• Furniture Manufacturing and Designing firms
• Interior Design shops

 

If one has entrepreneurship skills and access to decent financial resources, one may start own interior design firm or consultancy service. Other than that, one may also design and sell own interior decoration and utility products.

 

Also read:

Courses after 12th Arts

Courses after 12th Commerce

Courses after 12th Science

Best Bachelor of Design Courses

Photography courses

Animation courses

Air Hostess courses

 

In short, this profession offers ample self employment opportunities too! Interior design field also has a rewarding ‘marketing’ sector associated with it. Using one’s knowledge and skills, one may also market interior design goods and products such as furniture, decorative items, utility products etc.

 

Salary

Starting salary depends on a number of different factors. Prominent factors are- profile of the employer, employee skills, aptitude and grades attained by the employee. In the beginning, interior designers may earn 10-20k Rupees per month. Salary will rise after gaining work experience. If one decides to remain self employed, salary figure will be quite different than the ones mentioned above.