Having worked in the paint industry and specialising in colour, I have a passion for design and spent most of my career promoting beautiful interiors, so when I left the paint industry, it felt natural to progress into the field I had a passion for.

I spent ages researching the many online interior design diplomas. I finally chose KLC Design School London for its reputation as well as the help they offered students both during the course and entering the industry afterwards.

What Skills You Need Before You Start
While it helps to be creative and have the right eye for interiors, you don’t need any interior design experience to do the course. Basic computer literacy skills like World, Excel and PowerPoint are necessary in my view.

Samples
Throughout the course you need samples. Living in South Africa I found these really hard to get so I made two trips to the UK, visiting the London Design Fair with my concept boards in hand and I couldn’t have done the course had I not done this.

Photographing Work
KLC recommend getting your work professionally photographed and this is a good tip. But let’s be honest, it’s really expensive, so I took my own photos which inevitably meant a skew edge here or there, sadly this does affect your marks.

My Top Tips

• Don’t go out and buy all the equipment at once, buy it as you need it
• Do get the student SketchUp version earlier and don’t leave it to the last section, this gives you more time to practice
• Take advantage of the short courses KLC offer (there is a discount offered to students), living in South Africa I couldn’t and while the notes and tutorials are excellent I think these would have been a big help
• Definitely visit London Design Fair especially Decorex, 100 Percent Design, Chelsea Design Quarter and the V&A
• If you get the chance, do visit as many heritage buildings as you can
• Plan to spend at least 10 hours a week on average to keep up the momentum and complete the course
• Make use of the friendly and helpful open learning centre who are there to help you along the way.

I loved the course, it was a huge amount of work but I enjoyed every second and I can’t wait to join the interior design industry. I do feel some industry experience is needed and I am now in contact with the KLC Careers service for help with that. I will keep you posted.