Would You Like a Career in Interior Design?
Alison Feeney-Hart of BBC News spoke to award-winning English interior designer Sophie Conran, the daughter of designer and restaurateur Sir Terence Conran and the sister of fashion designer Jasper Conran. She had some great advice for those considering a career in interior designer.
Start young and see what excites you
Sophie had a dolls’ house as a child. “I decorated it, furnished it and even put wallpaper up,” she said. “So, I sort of started interior design at quite a young age for some small, inanimate clients!
When she about 8 years old, her parents bought a dilapidated old school and then spent the next few years doing it up. “We basically lived on a building site, and I got to see the whole thing stripped back to the bare bones,” Sophie recalled. “I found it really exciting and I think that experience probably sparked my initial interest in interior design.”
Believe in yourself
Sophie struggled in school. “I was quite badly dyslexic and everything was a bit of a struggle, apart from the arts,” she admits. “I wasn’t particularly confident when I started out and I didn’t feel great about myself then.” But she had always enjoyed designing things. “With anything in life that you want to do, if it interests you and you spend enough time doing it, you will learn it. You just have to care enough about it to try,” she said. “It is so important to believe in yourself, and tell yourself that it is going to be ok.”
The Perla Lichi Institute
If you think you might have what it takes to be an interior designer, we invite you to explore your potential through an online course offered by Perla Lichi, who built one of the leading interior decorating companies from the ground up. You’ll not only learn about high end home design, you’ll be encouraged to develop your own creativity as you master the technical and practical skills necessary to your success as a classic interior designer.