Interior Designer Salary and Insights for 2025

What is an Interior Designer?

An interior designer works to create functional and beautiful interior spaces for different types of spaces, such as homes, offices, retail stores, restaurants, and hotels. Interior designers work with their clients to understand their needs, wants, and budget, and then translate their visions into well-designed spaces that satisfy practical and aesthetic needs. They utilize their knowledge of space planning, color theory, furniture selection, lighting design, and material selection to create integrated and cohesive interiors that improve the quality of life and reflect the personality of a client or brand.

Interior designers work with architects, contractors and others to see that projects are brought in on time, on budget and as close to specifications as possible. They create drawings, renderings and mood boards to convey concepts and visualize the design, and they provide advice about furniture placement, decorative elements and finishes. They study emerging industry trends, building codes and sustainability advancements and apply them to their designs by creating innovative, environmentally responsible spaces that serve the changing needs of clients and society.

What does an Interior Designer do?

Duties and Responsibilities

Some of the duties and responsibilities of an interior designer include the following:

• Client Consultation: Interior designers meet with clients to establish the scope of the project, including the clients’ needs, tastes and budget. Interior designers review the project space to take measurements, assess the environment and identify any issues that might pertain to the clients’ needs, including the necessary appointments, dimensions and equipment required for the project.
• Space Planning: Designers devise layout plans and floor plans to optimize the use of space and ensure efficient flows through the interior environment, such as traffic flow, furniture placement, and functionality.
• Concept Development: Interior designers decide on a design idea and theme based on a client’s preference, the style of the architecture and the requirements of the project, by creating a mood board, a color scheme or a design concept to give the client an idea and get the client to approve the design.
• Material Selection: Interior designers specify and select materials, finishes, furnishings, and decorative elements to reflect the design intent and provide functional utility for the space. Specify and select materials, finishes, furnishings, and decorative elements based on human factors, aesthetics, and functionality, considering performance, durability, maintenance, and budget.
• Presentation and Visualization: Interior designers must create presentations, renderings and 3D visualizations to represent their design ideas and concepts to their clients, stakeholders and partners. They use computer-aided design (CAD) and other visualization tools to develop representations of the proposed designs.
• Project Management: Designers have oversight of the entire design process, from the concept stage to the implementation. They work with architects, contractors, vendors, suppliers, etc, in the implementation of the designs, according to the specifications, budget and time constraints.
• Coordination and Communication: Interior designers communicate with clients and other stakeholders throughout the process, reporting progress and concerns, and asking for feedback. They communicate with contractors and tradespeople to ensure that work is completed to high standards and according to design plans.
• Code Compliance and Regulations: Interior designers make sure that designs are in compliance with building codes, ordinances, laws, regulations, and codes set up for the purpose of providing proper access to the interior of a building for persons with disabilities. They keep up-to-date on laws and regulations governing interior design practice, and ensure that designs are consistent with building codes related to life safety, health, and environmental standards.

Types of Interior Designers

Interior designers can be further categorized into many subtypes, each with their own specialization and expertise. Some common types of interior designers are:

• Commercial Interior Designers: They design commercial interior spaces and create an interior space that is pleasing to the eye, but is also functional and efficient, for a commercial enterprise or institution.
• Healthcare Interior Designers: Healthcare interior designers plan interiors of healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and medical offices, taking into account the patient, as well as healthcare workers and staff, and how to provide an optimal environment for each.
• Hospitality Interior Designers: Hospitality interior designers focus on creating welcoming and memorable interior spaces that are guest-centric. They are responsible for designing hotels, restaurants, resorts and other hospitality venues that can create a unique immersive experience for guests and allow them to feel connected with the brand.
• Residential Interior Designers: Designing interiors for private homes, apartments or condominiums that are personalized, functional and reflect the personality and lifestyle preferences of their clients.
• Set Designer: Design sets for theatre, film, television or events. Work with a director or producer to clarify the vision for the production and details about the characters, story and time period. Develop a design concept, overall look and color palette, and present this to the director or producer for approval. Create set drawings while liaising with the technical team to determine how to construct the sets. Mix and match colors to create the right ambience. Consult with specialists to meet technical, sound, lighting, plumbing and fire safety requirements. Stay within the budget.
• Sustainable Interior Designers: Sustainable interior designers are known for their expertise in developing interior spaces that promote environmental responsibility and efficient use of resources. They incorporate green materials, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable design practices to minimize environmental impact and create healthier indoor environments for occupants.