Interior Design Course Syllabus: Subjects & Skills Explained

Interior designing involves more than just choosing color palettes and furnishing options for any building structure. Interior designers need to have a number of different skill sets, including but not limited to creativity, technology, space planning, materials selection, and many others. These skills can be obtained by studying an interior design syllabus.

1. Foundations of Interior Design

The lesson always starts with the foundations of design. This comprises the study of the basics of design, which include the elements and principles of design, color, composition, proportion, balance, rhythm, and harmony. It is important to learn the foundations in order to understand how these factors work within the design.

2. Space Planning and Design

Space planning is probably the most important subject in interior design course syllabus. Students learn how to analyze the space, detect user requirements, create functional schemes, and arrange furniture considering people’s movements and circulations.

3. Drawing & Representation

As interior designers need a visual presentation of their design, students are introduced to the following types of drawing:

Free hand, technical, orthographic, section, elevation, and perspective.

4. Materials and Construction

Knowledge of materials is a very important aspect of interior designing. Students acquire knowledge regarding various types of materials used for interior designing such as wooden, glass, metal, laminate, fabric, tiles, stone, paint, wallpaper, and many more. Apart from that, students also acquire knowledge regarding construction and furniture construction, false ceiling, floor, partitions, and wall.

5. Computer Aided Design & 3-D Visualization

Computer aided designing using technologies like AutoCAD and Sketchup is part of the modern day interior designing course.

6. Lighting and Utilities

It is fair to say that lighting is one of the most important elements that contribute to the efficiency of the interior. Apart from learning about lighting, students also learn about various other elements like plumbing, electrical engineering, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and fire protection.

7. Designing of Furniture and Interior Decoration

The designing of furniture, placement of furniture, designing of furniture as per requirement, accessories, choice of fabrics, colors, and interior decoration is covered. The students come to know that all these aspects can be selected according to their requirement.

8. Industry Practices and Project Management

Along with professional courses, students become aware of industry practices. Topics such as estimation, costing, budgeting, materials required, vendor coordination, and project management are included.

9. Design Project and Creation of a Portfolio

Through the projects given, the students will have an opportunity to put into practice everything that they have learned through assignments. This may include designing of houses, offices, commercial buildings, retail spaces, hotels, and many others. Through the projects, students can come up with a portfolio which is very important especially during job applications.

SKILLS LEARNED

Taking an interior design class enables you to learn:
How to think creatively and conceptually
How to plan space effectively
Drawing skills
Material and construction skills
Visualization skills
Color and lighting skills
Communication with clients
Budgeting
Site and project management
Portfolios

The ideal output from an interior design class should be a designer that is both creative and technical. This is not about designing a beautiful space but a functional and safe one.

Ar. Shreya Rami

Ar. Shreya Rami, Architect and Interior Designer.

B.Arch. from MBS School of planning and architecture, GGSIPU, New Delhi.

Architect and Interior Designer with 7+ years of experience across architecture, interiors, and project management. Having contributed to renowned firms such as Studio Lotus, 4th Dimension, and Homeland, I now lead my own design studio, delivering residential and commercial projects from concept to execution. Passionate about design education, I have successfully trained and mentored numerous interns and emerging designers while leading multidisciplinary project teams.