How To Become A Home Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a home designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Cameron John M.F.A.,

Morten Bustrup

Home designers are a kind of interior designers responsible for the function and decoration of residential spaces. They introduce structure and appeal to new homes or rework existing spaces. They meet with clients to determine their design needs. After which, they use computer-aided design software to create spatial layouts, lighting systems, and color schemes. Also, they select furniture, fabrics, and accessories. Likewise, they may advise clients on suitable decor. Additionally, they may consult with and coordinate the work of contractors.

To become a home designer, you need at least an associate's or bachelor's degree in interior design or architecture. You may be required to have a state license. You must also have prior experience in a related role. Essential skills include communication, client service, design, financial management, and creativity skills. Home designers earn an average salary of $47,046 per annum or $22.62 an hour. This varies between $32,000 and $67,000.

What general advice would you give to a home designer?

Cameron John M.F.A.

Lecturer, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Each day in design may offer something different - time is often balanced between multiple projects at different stages of development. Design projects, depending on scale, often take anywhere from 6 months to several years from beginning to end. Day to day tasks may include meeting with a client, meeting with other professionals like architects and engineers, developing plans and 3D models of the design, organizing and selecting materials, coordinating project details, making changes and revisions, meeting with product representatives, and much more.

ScoreHome DesignerUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,541

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.14%

Asian 4.57%

Black or African American 1.48%

Hispanic or Latino 7.59%

Unknown 4.08%

White 82.14%

Gender

female 46.42%

male 53.58%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a home designer

Explore home designer education requirements

Most common home designer degrees

Bachelor's

60.8 %

Associate

25.3 %

Master's

4.8 %

Start to develop specific home designer skills

Skills	Percentages
In-Home	35.39%
Customer Service	31.00%
Design Solutions	16.06%
Space Planning	3.30%
Sales Associates	3.22%

Complete relevant home designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New home designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a home designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real home designer resumes.

Research home designer duties and responsibilities

Manage multiple residential kitchen and bath projects simultaneously from design inception to delivery in a fast pace energetic environment.
Prepare hand sketch elevations in perspective views.
Design kitchen and bath building and renovation projects for consumer and commercial customers, coordinating credit applications and processing payments.
Monitor orders utilizing POS system.

Prepare your home designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your home designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a home designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable home designer resume templates

Build a professional home designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your home designer resume.