apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

scad.edu is in savannah, and in atlanta............worth a visit.

Contents of this website are good and appreciative. Recommended to all. http://www.goagifts.com, http://www.calcuttaonnet.com

@maude, you beat me to it.

If I may offer a suggestion...If you are thinking about interior design and would like to get a feel for it Ethan Allen home Interiors will train you as a Designer when you hire on. You will spend a week at the corporate offices in Danbury Conn. learning about product and furniture history.This would be great experience and exposure in the field. Granted you are dealing with residential design but it can help you launch your career once you finished school.

I'm also looking to start taking some classes... does anyone know much about Harrington College of Design in Chicago?

Definitely go to a school thats accredited. Employers will respect a degree from an accredited university. Thats really the best advice I can give. Other than that, if you work hard your portfolio will speak for itself.

Also, designing commercial interiors is a completely different animal than residential work. I don't think a week course at the Ethan Allen home interiors school will do much for you.

And, just so you know... Interior Design is not as glitzy and glamorous as it may look on HGTV or Trading Spaces. It's alot of work, alot of time in front of the computer (which I didn't know going in) and alot of dealing with clients who think they know better than you. Its not just picking finishes and fabrics (and I've never chosen a pillow or curtains in my career). It is fun though, very competitive and your designer discount is a definite plus!!

as a design professional, i would recommend these great resources to learn more about what to look for.
http://www.careersininteriordesign.com/education.html
http://www.asid.org/education/selection/
http://www.iida.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1

and definately make sure the school is accredited!

No one asked about NY but there is one here, New York School of Interior Design (NYSID) focusing solely on interior design.

I work at an architectural firm (not in interiors =) and people get interior decorator and interior designer mixed up all the time!

Definitely make sure the school you choose is accredited and offers more CAD classes than "making board" classes. Picking out colors and making your boards pretty are secondary to your CAD skills. University of Alabama is a great program and althought it's not in GA or FL, it's very close! SCAD is also great.

Good Luck!

I agree Manders22. Interior design is more about cost estimates, FF&E (furnishing, fixtures and equipment), architectural finish schedules and SPEXX (computer progam for calling out specifications) than the glam stuff they show on TV. It's hard, time-consuming work. If you think it may be your passion then go for it.

My sister is a interior designer (and i'm a graphic designer, don't know that happened in our family, no one else is artistic) so I can give a little insight.

It's not on your list of states, but wanted to throw one "close" to chicago. My sister went to Western Michigan University. They have a good interior design program there and it is very competitive. I think they take around 20 students a year. She graduated a few years ago and now does commercial work. She worked for Phizer for awhile and now works for another place specializing in commercial. WMU might not have a ton of the glam as some other schools do, but you'll get a really good education and not be paying for it until you're 80.

And to go along with the other post above, she also worked for Ethan Allen right when she got out of school, and she hated it. That's more about picking out which drapes will go with a couch and snobby people telling you you're wrong. Hardly design, it falls into the "decorator" category.

kathyh, Harrington is a really good school. I'd recommend going for a visit and a tour.

I asked a designer if he'd recommend Harrington or the Art Institute of Chicago has a program as well. He said both are good schools, but each has a slightly different focus. He said the grads from Harrington were great with fabrics, texture, details, etc. And the Art Institute grads were more focused on architectural/drafting elements.

thanks Katie! I have actually done a tour and really liked what I saw. I just wasn't sure how well respected the school was in the design community and if employers liked to hire graduates from there. It's expensive and a big commitment, so I want to make sure that I will be attending a school that will prepare me well for a design career!

Can anyone recommend design schools in the NYC area? Does anyone have any opinions on Parson's interior design certificate program?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I agree with you Manders22, residential and commercial are two different breeds. But the benefits of getting into the Interior design business sooner puts you far ahead of any future classmates. Hiring on with a design firm while attending school will only help in furthering ones career. You will quickly gain vast knowledge of a client base and how to the suit their particular needs. None of which you will ever learn in a class room. Working with a company like Ethan Allen will give you real-world experience. Granted it's not the end all be all. But how many of us would not go back and change what we did right out of college? I was merely making a suggestion that could help an individual in dealing with clients and benefiting their future career. After all that is the biggest part of the job...And yes, it is not a "pretty" job. Most people have a very distorted view of what we do based on television. It's rare to get Carte Blanche. I have seen many come and go. A lot of them wasted their time and educations because they thought it would be all "pretty and glamour". If there are opportunities out there that would allow some one the insight into their future, why take the chance and see if it's something your truly are interested in pursing. As a professional in this industry, I would suggest looking at the bigger picture and align yourself in taking advantage of all the possibilities that a person has and put yourself on the fast track to what it is that you dream of. Go for your degree, build an amazing portfolio, and get real world experience.

designgurl -

New York School of Interior Design. I just went back to school for interior design and looked at the program at NYSID versus Parsons. I chose NYSID and am SO glad. It's really nice to be in an environment where everyone and every resource is dedicated to exactly what you want to do. Plus the campus is really nice. :)

I attended Harrington College of Design in Chicago for 1 semester and loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, I could not keep attending because of various issues that arose at the time, but I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the school.

The teachers are great and most of them insist that you call them by their first name. They are all very helpful and come from a variety of backgrounds. There is a required amount of lab time, which was great, because you get to meet other teachers and get different opinions on everything. They are really there to help you rather than just make a buck.

You could really tell who was there to learn about the design aspect and who was there because they thought it was just about paint colors. A lot of students ended up leaving before the end of the semester because it wasn't what they had expected. It's a lot of work, but very fulfilling in my opinion.

Their program is really great and I think you can get a BA in as little as 2.5 years, although it might be 2, I can't remember.

I think they recently started offering photography courses, which is a wonderful skill when it comes to design since you'll want your photos of your rooms to look great if you don't have a photographer with you, depending on what you are doing.

Best of luck! I'm envious!

here is the link to The Council for Interior Desgn Accreditation
http://www.accredit-id.org/. On here you can find all the accreditted programs. All schools that are accreddited follow very strict and similar syllabi, classes, and classwork. I attended Colorado State University and learned tons and highly recommend it. Every program does focus on different things... my program focused heavily on research based programming and research based design. Other programs focus more on the conceptual side of things. I think you need to explore the options and find what works for you. The years I was there...02-06 we did not have one residential studio project which I liked because we were taught how to design larger spaces, more code issues/accessibility etc..design for the masses per se. I now work at a large firm in Houston feel that my education prepared me well for the commercial work I am doing. Of course it only covers the basics because I can't explain to you how much I have learned working the field the past 2 years! Looking at some of peers portfolio's which we all had to do as a graduation requirement, I feel as though my school being near the rocky mountains (not so design savvy) outperformed some highly regarded design schools. If you are serious about design it's all a matter of how far you want to push yourself, and the design. There is never a right answer to design which can be very exhausting..but there is always a better way to do things. One last thing as I get off my soapbox....check out the professors. Have they only been teaching or have they had some practical experience...what have the published etc. Good luck in the design field!

I also want to add...that in many states there are licensure/title acts in place for interior designers who must pass the NCIDQ-qualifications test in order to stamp drawings and to use the title "interior designer". NCIDQ has changed their regulations and I believe since January of this year you must have attended an accredited program in order to complete your requirements to take the test. Previously you were allowed to grandfathered in but this has changed.

With regard to NY schools, I've been shopping around for ID schools as well and I'm currently taking a design class at Parson's. I have also taken a course at NYSID and I found NYSID to be more personable than Parson's, plus the school is smaller and the focus is interior design.

I'd check out FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising). They have 4 campuses in California - San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County. They have an Interior Design major that is pretty rigorous and is taught by industry professionals. www.fidm.edu

on this same note, does any have info on Master's programs in interior design? i already have a BFA in graphic design, i'd rather not go back for another bachelor's. I'm in Philadelphia, so I've looked at Drexel's MA in interior design program, but i'm not 100% in love with it. Thanks!

Thanks for the comments Erin! I'm really looking forward to hopefully starting there in the fall. I will still be working full time to help pay for it, so I'm a little nervous about making it work in to my schedule, but I think I can manage it. They do also offer photography courses as well now there, which has also long been an area I've wanted to take classes in.

Any suggestions for good Colorado schools?

I recently graduated from Florida International University in Miami with a degree in interior design and i couldn't be any happier! They have such a great program there, they are accredited, and really make you think in ways you may have never expected. Looking back, i don't think anyone could have paid me to go anywhere else. Im a year out of graduation and already work in the third largest firm, in South Florida and many of my peers work in great firms around here too. I highly recommend you look into it if you are interested in Florida. (If miami is too warm for you, UF is a really good school too.) The head of interiors at FIU and many of the professors came from there.

Has anyone tried the online schools out there. Any suggestions for good accredited online programs?

designgurl,

Parsons might be a good design school but they are very proud of the fact that their interior design program is NOT accredited.

Leanne,

Unfortunately interior design is a relatively new field, still trying to find a generally accepted definition and boundaries as a profession. So unlike architecture, interior design education varies widely from school to school and most all (commercial) interior designers get a bachelors degree. Graduate programs are few and focus more on research, not professional practice. Most second career designers go the bachelors degree route.

No problem kathyh! Just be careful- The homework is quite time consuming...don't get too caught up in everything, I knew a few people who were getting B's and C's when they were normally grade-A type people, only because their job got in the way or they were taking too heavy of a course load.

I know several interior designers in Atlanta and most went to school at SCAD (excellent school), University of Georgia, Auburn, Florida State and The University of Florida. All do good work and got solid educations, but if money isn't an issue, think SCAD. Their Savannah campus is great, but they now also have an Atlanta campus.

If anyone is interested in a good program in the upper Midwest, Cranbrook (Michigan) is really terrific.

I am currently attending Harrington College of Design in Chicago, but moved to Chicago from San Diego - so prior to enrolling I looked at schools in California, Florida, NY, GA, and Illinois. To repeat what others have said, definitely go with an accredited program, and at minimum I would go with a Bachelors or Masters program. Harrington no longer offers a certificate program, and I have never seen a (good) firm only require a certificate for education. You would be doing yourself a disservice by only going for certificate or associates. Although alot of people with bachelors degrees already (myself included) think an associates is enough (especially if planning on residential design), the market seems to be going away from that and a lot of firms require you to have a BA in ID.

I ended up deciding on Harrington because I am originally from IL and wanted to be closer to home. I decided against Parsons and other NY schools because it was so expensive, living in the city is so expensive, and with new ID grad salaries not exatly high, I just didn't want to get that much in the hole - plus, your portfolio really does speak for itself and there were lots of other good schools in other locations.
Univ. of Florida (Gainesville) was my second choice to Harrington, because they offered a masters program, one of the few I was able to find in a location that I actually wanted to live in for a few years. CIDA only accredites bachelors programs, so be aware that any masters programs won't show there... however, schools with accredited bachelors programs may have masters programs (as in UofFlorida), so if you go for Masters still go to an accredited school. Harrington is adding a Masters program - I am not sure if they are advertising for it yet, but I think it is supposed to start this fall.

I also work at a design firm, part time, while in school and one of the other designers went to the Art Institute and she said the focused mostly on commercial, and didn't even take a lot of classes I think are important to both fields (such as textiles). I think Harrington does a good job at having projects in both fields - gives you the opportunity to change your mind if something ends up becoming more interesting to you over the course of the program.

This entry is getting really long... so feel free to ask me any other specific questions if you have more. Otherwise, good luck!

I've been looking for an interior design program too, only in the SF area. UC Berkeley offers a certificate program that IS accredited by CIDA and has an environmental focus...only thing is that it's nearly just as long as some BS/BA programs..!

ASID made a point to say on their site that just because a school isn't accredited by CIDA doesn't mean it's a bad program or school--they may just not have bothered to apply for accreditation. But if they're nationally accredited somehow (WASC, etc.) you're still eligible to sit for the NCIDQ exam...

...So FIDM might still be on my list of SF schools. We'll see.

I'm getting a master's in Interior Architecture from Lawrence Technological University in the Metro Detroit area. They have a really unique program for people making a career change-- you take the undergraduate design classes and then join the masters program after they are completed and you've passed a portfolio check. If you go full time, it takes three years instead of two, but you don't have double back through another bachelor's degree.

Southfield, Michigan is far from glamorous, but the Interiors program at LTU was ranked 13th in the nation by the Almanac of Architecture and Design in 2003. I don't know what their current ranking is-- that's just what led me to them in 2005 when I started the program.

Best of luck with the career change!

since were on the subject, for those in the interior design business, are the online schools (the art institute online) looked down upon among employers???

i was attending the illinois institute of art-schaumburg (branch of the art institutes) but took a break and am now staying home with my baby. while i was attending school before we were able to take some online classes along with our ground classes, so i was thinking of starting back with the art institute online to better suit my familys needs.