There are a lot of different interior design courses on offer in colleges, over the net and run by private businesses but is Interior design something that can actually be taught to everyone or does one need to have a basic ability for the work in the before you start? It might be a plan, before taking on a major decorating project like say re-working a period home or configuring your new build, to get some training in interior design. On the one hand this could, if it works out, be very handy, saving you the fee of an Interior Designer altogether and giving you with a skill that will with any luck last and have a positive effect on many future ventures. However one questions if the very nature of the skill depends rather heavily on a natural aptitude or ability in that sector.

Of course the organisations offering these training plans would argue against that but I have to say that I have my misgivings. Certainly I know that if I look at room or space I can tell if it works. I can appreciate if a space works for specific tasks etc. However actually getting to that point seems an impossibility when starting with a blank canvas. Still that’s what training is all about, learning new skills and developing oneself.

Looking at some of the course details it does all seem very unfarmilliar and of course a lot of them are focused on people wishing to train for a new role. So what exactly would you learn? There seem to be a lot of “woolly” things as I’d label them. For example “The Language of Design” which seems to be all about insight, and meaning behind design. This would of course be very strange to a layperson. I would have thought one simply needed to understand how the room made you feel, not that it will have hidden meanings of it’s own.

Of course another not so useful part of a training programme would be all the jargon, the language of design as used amongst the experts, of course if you’re hunting for a new career this will be vital but if not, totally unnecessary. More solid sections should cover topics such as space planning, ratios, lighting and colour. All doubtless very useful for the recreational decorator and as long as there are some clear rules to follow, the benefits of these sections of an Interior Designer course could well be very helpful. I suppose, that to an interested layman, these sessions would also be very enjoyable to work through.

Other aspects of these courses seem difficult to understand and I wonder if that is because I am simply not the “arty” type. The emotional elements of a room, i am convinced, would still bewilder me no matter how long I spent workingon it! As too would the secret meanings and messages hidden in a room developed by a top Interior Design Firm.

However if you’re looking to pass some time on, gather some nice skills in design and replace the need for a Professional Interior Design firm in your home than this sort of study could be just what you need.

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