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What does a home designer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read

A home designer is responsible for executing creative designs for house furnishing according to clients' requirements and specifications. Home designers assess the clients' best interests to make decisions about layouts and structure. They also select the best materials and equipment that go along with the house's designs, customizing decors, and emphasize the elements of the residential space. A home designer must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in creating cost and expenses reports for the client's preference.

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Home designer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real home designer resumes:

  • 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.
  • Manage multiple residential kitchen and bath projects simultaneously from design inception to delivery in a fast pace energetic environment.

Home designer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 35% of Home Designers are proficient in In-Home, Customer Service, and Design Solutions. They’re also known for soft skills such as Problem-solving skills, Visualization, and Artistic ability.

We break down the percentage of Home Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • In-Home, 35%

    Coordinated with installation crew on design lay-out and provided in-home training on system operation.

  • Customer Service, 31%

    Provided customers with customer service.

  • Design Solutions, 16%

    Provide customers with an elevated furniture shopping experience through personalized design solutions.

  • Space Planning, 3%

    Advised client on factors involved with space planning, layout, and use of furnishings and color.

  • Sales Associates, 3%

    Full drawings, specs and administration for each design* Communication/instruction/oversight of sub-contractors/workrooms* Instruction on rudiments of design to newer sales associates

  • Retail Sales, 3%

    Increased retail sales via aggressive internet pricing initiatives.

"in-home," "customer service," and "design solutions" are among the most common skills that home designers use at work. You can find even more home designer responsibilities below, including:

Problem-solving skills. One of the key soft skills for a home designer to have is problem-solving skills. You can see how this relates to what home designers do because "interior designers must address challenges, such as construction delays or unavailability of certain materials, while keeping the project on time and within budget." Additionally, a home designer resume shows how home designers use problem-solving skills: "full time builds and manages the relationships with residential clients in need of home organization solutions. "

Visualization. Many home designer duties rely on visualization. "interior designers need a strong sense of proportion and visual awareness in order to understand how the pieces of a design will fit together to create the intended environment.," so a home designer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways home designer responsibilities rely on visualization: "utilized hand-drawn sketches and 3-d visualization to investigate design concepts. "

Artistic ability. home designers are also known for artistic ability, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to home designer responsibilities, because "interior designers use their sense of style to develop aesthetically pleasing designs." A home designer resume example shows how artistic ability is used in the workplace: "create design drawings and work with construction staff to revise and adapt based upon production, artistic or budgetary needs. "

Detail oriented. A big part of what home designers do relies on "detail oriented." You can see how essential it is to home designer responsibilities because "interior designers need to be precise in measuring interior spaces and creating drawings, so that their drawings can be used by workers such as engineers or other designers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical home designer tasks: "advised clients on design choices including interior details, exterior materials and landscaping. "

Interpersonal skills. Another crucial skill for a home designer to carry out their responsibilities is "interpersonal skills." A big part of what home designers relies on this skill, since "interior designers need to be able to communicate effectively with clients and others." How this skill relates to home designer duties can be seen in an example from a home designer resume snippet: "used interpersonal and customer service skills to discover customer needs. "

Creativity. Another skill commonly found on home designer job descriptions is "creativity." It can come up quite often in home designer duties, since "interior designers need to be imaginative in selecting furnishings and fabrics and in creating functional spaces that serve the client’s needs and fit the client’s lifestyle." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day home designer responsibilities: "created general assembly drawings using autodesk autocad and inventor. "

See the full list of home designer skills

The three companies that hire the most home designers are:

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Compare different home designers

Home designer vs. Graphic artist

A graphic artist is either an illustrator or an animator who creates art work that will be used in graphic projects such as advertisements, posters, or even book covers. Although a graphic artist has his/her own style of artwork, he/she may be often commissioned to create art specifically for a particular project. A graphic artist may work with a graphic designer in order to convey the overall message of a project. The portfolio of a graphic artist includes cartoons, illustrations, and graphic novels.

If we compare the average home designer annual salary with that of a graphic artist, we find that graphic artists typically earn a $11,641 lower salary than home designers make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between home designers and graphic artists are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like design projects, trade shows, and design concepts.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between home designers and graphic artist. For instance, home designer responsibilities require skills such as "in-home," "customer service," "design solutions," and "sales floor." Whereas a graphic artist is skilled in "graphic design," "adobe photoshop," "adobe illustrator," and "art direction." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Graphic artists really shine in the non profits industry with an average salary of $68,382. Comparatively, home designers tend to make the most money in the retail industry with an average salary of $90,868.graphic artists tend to reach similar levels of education than home designers. In fact, graphic artists are 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Home designer vs. Visual merchandiser

A visual merchandiser is responsible for arranging product displays at retail outlets, attracting customers to purchase the items. Visual merchandisers should be updated with the latest trends in the market to prioritize retail displays and floor plans. They must also be knowledgeable on product information to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. Visual merchandisers should be creative in setting up the uniformity of the store's visuals within the budget goals. The designs must be appealing enough to drive the customers around the premises, potentially generating revenues and increasing profitability.

On average, visual merchandisers earn a $28,504 lower salary than home designers a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both home designers and visual merchandisers have skills such as "customer service," "sales floor," and "sales associates. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real home designer resumes. While home designer responsibilities can utilize skills like "in-home," "design solutions," "space planning," and "retail sales," visual merchandisers use skills like "ladders," "store management," "drive sales," and "kids."

On average, visual merchandisers earn a lower salary than home designers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, visual merchandisers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $37,869. Whereas home designers have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $90,868.visual merchandisers earn similar levels of education than home designers in general. They're 2.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Home designer vs. Production artist

A production artist is responsible for managing digital content, meeting clients' standard specifications and requests for successful project completion. Production artists must have computer proficiency, especially on utilizing various software tools and applications to create illustrations and layouts. They also work closely with the creative team, cooperating in brainstorming sessions to ensure the consistency for each assigned task. A production artist should be keen on details, adjusting outputs as needed to maintain the highest quality for the actual presentation.

On average, production artists earn lower salaries than home designers, with a $4,671 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on home designers and production artists resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "sketch," "design projects," and "trade shows.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from home designer resumes include skills like "in-home," "customer service," "design solutions," and "sales floor," whereas a production artist is more likely to list skills in "graphic design," "adobe photoshop," "adobe creative suite," and "adobe illustrator. "

When it comes to education, production artists tend to earn similar degree levels compared to home designers. In fact, they're 1.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Home designer vs. Graphic design assistant

Graphic Design Assistants help graphic designers in creating art, fulfilling orders, and managing the studio. They may be budding graphic designers looking for industry experience or creative professionals interested in getting into the graphic designing industry. They should be familiar with the different tools and concepts involved in graphic design. Graphic Design Assistants help lead graphic designers to complete different activities. They may assist by lining, coloring, rendering, and adding finishing touches to the designs. They may also be in charge of packaging physical art and booking shipments to buyers. Graphic Design Assistants should be able to showcase their creative prowess. They are welcome to pitch in designs, critique art, and provide input.

Graphic design assistants tend to earn a lower pay than home designers by an average of $25,706 per year.While both home designers and graphic design assistants complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like customer service, sketch, and design projects, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A home designer uses "in-home," "design solutions," "sales floor," and "space planning." Graphic design assistants are more likely to have duties that require skills in "graphic design," "cad," "adobe illustrator," and "adobe photoshop. "The finance industry tends to pay the highest salaries for graphic design assistants, with average annual pay of $57,595. Comparatively, the highest home designer annual salary comes from the retail industry.In general, graphic design assistants hold similar degree levels compared to home designers. Graphic design assistants are 0.7% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of home designer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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