Top 3 Reasons to Attend Interior Design School

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" This is a common question school children face. When you were asked this, did your answer remain the same from kindergarten through high school graduation? Or did you often change your mind? Either way, you probably know more today about your professional goals than you did when you were a kid.

As an adult, a career change is not only possible, it can also lead to happier, more fulfilled lives. If you're a creative person with a practical side, and you would like to provide an excellent service to people, consider a career in interior design. Here are three good reasons you should.

1. Interior design school = fun!

School can be fun, especially when you get to combine your passion with the excitement of a career change. At interior design school, your instructors will want you at your most creative, and then help you to focus your creativity on practical design possibilities. For instance, interior design classes might include:

• Design illustration: Here, you get to draw and color, and get graded for it! Your designs are both computerized and on paper. So in addition to learning cool new computer design programs, you should have a chance to create watercolors, pastels, graphite and colored pencil designs, and more.
• Digital design presentations: Your presentations will involve much more than the boring, seen-a-thousand-times-before Power Point. You can learn how to incorporate CAD (Computer-aided-design) with your own hand-drawn or photographed designs for more wow-worthy presentations.
• Furniture construction and design: Your interior design program could teach you not only about drafting furniture design plans, but they might also provide you hands-on shop time to create own pieces.

2. All interior designers are not the same: you can specialize.

Interior designers have vast opportunities to create their own niches in the field. Interior design is expanding far beyond the traditional areas of residential or commercial design. Today's specializations include:

• Green design
• Kitchen and bath design
• Closet design
• Lighting
• Health care interior design
• Handicapped accessible design

You can even become professionally certified in many of these specialties. Whether or not you choose to specialize in a specific area of interior design, some states require interior designers to become licensed, which entails passing a national exam. If you are not sure of your state's interior design laws, you can check with the International Interior Design Association licensing guide.

3. Interior design jobs are on the rise.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2008 there were 71,700 professional interior designers in the U.S. In 2008, interior designers' median salary was $44,950 and in 2009, it was $46,180. The BLS anticipates 19 percent job growth in the field between 2008 and 2018.

Now is a great time to pursue this new career, whatever job you are coming from. If you are a creative person who wants to get paid for your great sense of style and taste, read more about interior decorating schools. Let these three great reasons inspire you to make the change.