The Learning Institute

Interior Design Diploma

The course shows you how to become a professional interior designer. It's designed to give you the right information when you need it.

The courses provide a complete learning package, and even include a starter kit - so you can get started immediately our parcel arrives. The course is crammed full of information, tips and exercises.

Everything is beautifully packaged to provide you with your own permanent reference library which you can consult long after completing the course.

Constructed by interior design experts, the course distills years of experience, covering every kind of house.

Exclusive information
The Diploma course gives you an invaluable insight into the interior design world. You can't find these trade secrets disclosed anywhere else. The course is distilled from actual experience, to give you the answers to questions like:

How do I present my designs?

What sort of people buy interior design?

Where do I find customers?

How much do I charge?

What paperwork do I need?

How do I do drawings?

What about getting curtains made?

Your qualification

When you successfully complete the course, you'll receive your Diploma, which serves to recognize your skills and knowledge. You'll also be able to use the initials Dip.ID (Inst.ID). The Diploma course will let you create a beautiful home - and it shows you how to find work and win clients.

If you complete the Diploma course, we also send information about your success to your local newspapers (if you want). It's a good way of telling potential clients that you're available.

We'll also put your name on our list of Approved Interior Designers.

The Diploma course contains the 44 modules shown below.

Course Contents

INTRODUCTION

The aims of this course
How to do the course
About the modules
what skills do you need?
Assessing your strengths and weaknesses
How to do the assignments
Getting inspiration
Making use of local stores, and getting discounts

1. HOUSE TYPES

Victorian or Edwardian terrace
1930s Semi-detached house
Loft living
Rural cottages
Checklist of decorative features
Modern estate

2. HALLS AND STAIRS

Hall functions
Narrow halls
Lack of light
Twelve ways to improve a hall
The hall floor
Getting rid of the hall
Conversely – add a hall!
Five ways to enhance a staircase

3. TAKING STOCK

Think ‘people’ rather than ‘rooms’
People’s needs change
People Checklist
Changes needed in the house
Traffic flow
The need for structural or building work
Checklist for designing a room
Plan of action for designing a room
Considerations to bear in mind

4. DESIGN AND STYLE

What design and style mean
Design
Style
How fashion affects style
The effect of good interior design
Choice of styles
Architects versus interior designers
The modern look
The traditional look
The eclectic look
Working systematically
Start with the basics
Contrast and consistency
Empathy for the client

5. STARTING TO SKETCH

Looking at the structure of the house
Adding a window to your drawing
Add a fireplace
Putting in some actual sizes
Transferring the information to graph paper
Add features to your drawing
Let’s add some furniture
Transfer your drawing to tracing paper

6. COLOUR, PATTERN AND FABRIC

Primary, secondary and tertiary colours
Dark/light versions of a colour
Colour schemes in decorating
Secondary contrast
Triadic
Cool and warm colours – and the room’s aspect
Cool and warm colours – and their impact on apparent size
Putting colour into practice in interior decorating
Some useful colour schemes
Texture

7. THE LIVING ROOM

Functions of the living room
Ten factors that improve the design of your living room
Four ways to give your room more style
Problems of scale in the living room
Upholstery
Open plan living space
Accessories
Children in the living room
Lighting

8. USING A SAMPLE BOARD

What board to use
Elements of a sample board
Putting the samples on the board
Finishing your board
How to make your sample board effective
Disadvantages of a sample board

9. LIGHTING

Lighting issues to be considered
Setting the mood
Health and safety
The different types of lighting
The location of lights
Direct and indirect lighting
Uplighters and downlighters
Mood lighting
Task lighting
Eight ways to make your lighting more effective
Different types of bulb
Using an electrician
Producing a lighting plan

10. A VIEW FROM THE ROAD

Part of the local neighbourhood
Ten ways to improve the front of the house
Retaining period features

11. FLOORS

The four factors to consider when choosing flooring
Interior designer’s checklist
Flooring style – hard or soft
Carpet
Rugs
Hard floors
Stone
Wood
Specific rooms

12. WALLS AND CEILING

A colour for the walls
Breaking up large slabs of wall
Paint effects
Preparation
Tricks and tips for walls and Ceilings

13. WALL DECORATION

Mirrors
Paintings
Tips about paintings
Wall coverings and tapestries
Collections of objects
Wall decorations room by room

14. DINING ROOM

The dominating dining table
Ten tips for better dining rooms
Dining in the kitchen
Dining with children

15. WINDOWS AND WINDOW DRESSING

Types of windows
Types of window treatment: curtains and blinds
Choice of fabrics and colour
Using a curtain maker

16. HEATING

Central heating
Hiding the radiator
Fireplaces
Using your fire
Adding a fireplace
Heat elsewhere in the home
Suggestions for improved warmth

17. FURNITURE

Sofas and upholstery
Wooden furniture: new or old?
The modern look
Buying new furniture
The antique or eclectic look
Different types of furniture
Buying from an antique shop
Buying at auction

18. KITCHEN AND UTILITY

Your role as the interior designer
Where to find kitchen designers
Where should the kitchen be?
The importance of size
Locating the ideal kitchen
Define your needs
Making sure the room is right
Flooring
Kitchen units and food preparation
Storage
Worktops
Washing dishes
Designing the layout
Eating in the kitchen
Display in the kitchen

19. STORAGE

Hoarding
Investigating your storage needs by room
Ways of adding lots more storage
Special storage problems
Storage outside

20. DRAWING MADE EASY

Plans and elevations
How important are drawing skills?
Our goal
Using software packages
Lettering
Using photographs
Using the photocopier

21. DISPLAY

Individuality
Colour
Items you could collect
Items that look interesting
Tips on displaying a collection
Things that have meaning for you
Collections to avoid
Where to place your collections
Lighting
Keeping your collection in check

22. EXTERIORS

Roof and chimneys
Walls
Pipes
Drainage

23. BEDROOMS FOR ADULTS

Functions of an adult bedroom
Storage
A dressing room
Mirrors
The bed
Lighting
Wall space
Window treatment
Design issues
Co-ordinating your colours and fabrics

24. ELECTRICITY

Electricity in your house
Tidying your electrical appliances
Why you should tackle electricity before choosing the wall-paper
How electricity works – a four-point summary
Lighting
Heating
Legal issues
Choosing an electrician
Dealing with an electrician
Preparing an electrical plan

25. ADDING MORE SPACE

Attic room
Cellar
Garage
Adapt an existing outbuilding
A room in the garden
Build an extension
Add a conservatory
Porch
Staying within the law

26. HISTORY OF INTERIOR DESIGN

Tudor
Early Classical
Georgian
Victorian
Edwardian
1930s
Recent years

27. BEDROOMS FOR CHILDREN

Infants’ and toddlers’ needs
Decoration for infants and toddlers
Young children’s needs
Decoration for the 5-12 year old
Teenagers’ needs
Decoration for the teenager
Eight safety points

28. PLUMBING AND DRAINAGE

How plumbing works
Emergency plumbing
Making plumbing work for you
Hiding the plumbing

29 . BATHROOMS

Bathroom functions
Layout
Colour scheme
Improving the bathroom
Fixtures and fittings

30. THE HOME OFFICE

Your office at home
Location
Outside or in?
What your home office needs
Layout
Giving your office personality

31. DISABLED LIVING

Types of disability
Needs of the disabled
Designing for the disabled

32. FENG SHUI

What is Feng Shui?
The compass
Ch’i
The Eight remedies
The Four Animals
How to apply Feng Shui in your home – or your client’s home

33. THE CONSERVATORY

Managing the temperature
Controlling the junk
Layout
Furniture
Flooring
Plants

34. SETTING UP YOUR PRACTICE

Your home office
Equipment and material you may need
Your company name
Useful magazines

35. LAUNCHING AND PROMOTING YOUR PRACTICE

Who will use your services?
Techniques for generating enquiries
Getting experience
Handling the initial enquiry
Obtaining a meeting

36. MEETING THE CLIENT

Meeting the client, the initial meeting
Body language
Listening skills
Defining the client’s need
Identify the problems
The client’s needs and lifestyle, the client’s style preferences
Taking a brief
Charging
Ending the meeting
Letter of Agreement
Presenting your proposals

37. FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS SYSTEMS

How much should you charge?
Invoicing
Statements
Going to court
Tax and VAT
Accountant
Indemnity insurance
Business systems, record keeping
Book keeper

38. MANAGING A PROJECT

Implementing the project
Payment methods
Writing a specification
Estimating, costing a job
Ordering
Dealing with contractors.
Project management – Contact report

39. OTHER WAYS TO EARN MONEY AS AN INTERIOR DESIGNER

Carpets and curtains service
Personal shopper
Room arranger
‘Sell your house faster’
Niche consultations
Write an article
Become a window treatment specialist
Paint effects service
How to charge

40. COMMERCIAL INTERIORS

The three sectors of commercial interiors
Commercial versus residential designs
Projects that don’t fit into one of these categories
The main differences between domestic and commercial design
Special factors in commercial designs
New building versus refurbishment
Finding clients. What kind of clients?
Understanding the brief
Questions to ask
Designing the space
Fire and fire safety precautions
The conceptual design meeting
Getting paid

41. OFFICE DESIGN

Starting off in office design
Building a portfolio
Understanding the client’s needs
What to consider when using the colour chart

42. RETAIL DESIGN

Starting off in retail design
Getting work as a retail designer
Understanding your client’s needs
Key factors in retail interiors
Doing the design
Last minute preparation

43. HOSPITALITY DESIGN

Starting off in hospitality design
Breaking into hospitality design
Understanding your client’s needs
Discussing the kitchen
Key issues in bar design
Key issues in restaurant design
Key issues in hotel design
Developing your flow diagram
Approaching the completion date

44. CONCLUSIONS, NEXT STEPS AND ACTION PLAN

Next steps
Action Plan

What's in your pack?
A sturdily bound set of course modules that lies flat for ease of study. We provide detailed, practical information that guides you skillfully towards becoming a professional interior designer.

18 interior design assignments. Your assignments will be carefully marked with personal advice by an experienced tutor.

A stylish case which keeps all your course material.
Our exclusive DVD, 'Making it as an Interior Designer'. This film gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how real designers work. For more information about the film, click here.

A study guide and planner that helps you organize your study.

A folder for your completed assignments.

Interior Design drawing program (Visual Home). It lets you produce professional floor plans quickly and easily.
Question and Answer sheets for you to have your queries answered.

'49 Winning Ways to Promote your Service' booklet. Great ideas to get you started. This booklet is not available anywhere else.

NEW! Templates. If you find scale drawing difficult, use the templates that we supply with the course. There's a complete set of furniture for bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and living room, plus planning grids. They let you produce professional drawings for your client - but without your having to do scale drawing. This kit is unavailable anywhere else.

NEW! Interior Designer's Manual. Inside you'll find useful forms, checksheets, tables, letter templates and an interior design glossary of terms.

Your starter pack
Included in your course is a starter pack. It includes clipboard, notepad, graph paper, tracing paper, steel measure, pencils, and interior design book.

What you'll learn from the course
By the end of the course, you'll have acquired the following skills:
You'll have learnt the skills of interior design.
You'll know how to set up and run an interior design business