Anything about an Interior Decorator?

Question

does anyone know anything about being an interior decorator? is it a good job? is it fun? is it well paid? is it a good experience?

Answer 1

working as a decorator every day is not what i call fun, its hard work. if  you are good, you can earn upwards of £30,000.00 a year,  if you do plenty overtime. you must be prepared to travel a lot, be good with customers. as it is part of the building trade you will meet a lot of strange people, some nice some not so nice. i would say i have enjoyed my time ( mostly ) as a decorator.

P.S.   24 years as a decorator  

Answer 2

Proper painting and decorating is a fully skilled trade which years ago was a six year apprenticeship (now three).  Plastering or bricklaying for example are semi-skilled.

I am a fully qualifed decorator and recommend it to noone.  Unless you have very low expectations.  You will forever be compared to and be competing with the countless untrained and poorly trained self-taught brushhands.  On a building site the numpties are always amongst the untrained painters.

I had about an 18 month waiting list for my services.  I earned about £35k to £50k a year doing a thorough job for quite wealthy people.  Most decorators earn about £20k pa.  I know a few who just knocked out work and earned maybe £60k, but they were trained and knew what they were doing.

Answer 3

Well if you don't mind the smell of paint all day and going home each night with paint in your hair. It's not fun, it's boring.

Yes it is well paid, my son can get £8 an hour working for a firm or £250 a day on his own.

Answer 4

I'm a decorator, the money is not bad (I'm self employed).

I quite enjoy it. The amount of pensioners who just want their house to look the same but cleaner can be a bit frustrating at times, but at the end of the day you are working to earn a living not to make the world pretty(when you manage to do both it's pretty satisfying though). I also have a customer who insists on pistachio coloured everything which is quite i find quite amusing, but at the same time kind of would rather not put my name to.

Our really busy time tends to be the run up to Christmas - everyone wants their house done by Christmas. With January being a little quieter. Apart from that I'm pretty much booked 6-8weeks in advance all year round.

Not my ideal job but not a bad one really.

Answer 5

If you're creative, it's fun. It can be a well paying job if you establish a clientele, work on your own (have your own business). If you work for a large business, it's not so rewarding because you wind up doing a lot of "grunt" work: revising drawings, color schemes, etc. that others have done. The best way to pursue this profession is to get a solid education in interior design, then go to work for a design firm, gain experience, and eventually strike out on your own.

Edit: I note others think this involves doing painting and other home improvements. That's not what I was referring to: I was referring to the person who actually designs the interiors, not the person who executes the design.

Answer 6

Good summer job not so great for winter.  People don't tend to do a lot of changes during winter time.