If you have dreams of becoming an interior designer, it can take you a while to get to the point where people will want to seek out your interior design services. But while you’re going to school for design, you can still work to grow your skills as a designer and intensify your design eye.

To help you see how this can be done, here are three ways to hone your skills as an interior designer while going to school. 

Use Technology To Practice

Thanks to modern technology, there are now so many ways that you can practice interior design without actually having to spend money on materials or even use any real space.

With interior design apps, you can practice designing a room or an entire house. These apps allow you to see how something would look before you go forward with the design in real life. This way, you can try something new, see what you’re capable of, and expand your own horizons with nothing at risk. 

Look At Everything With A Designer’s Eye

While there’s nothing that can compare to actually designing a space and seeing the room come together, when you’re just starting out, what you really need to be concerned with is strengthening your designer’s eye.

To help you do this, try to get in the habit of looking at every space you enter with a designer’s eye. Try to pinpoint what another designer was thinking when they created that space. Learn how to identify certain styles and what pieces represent those styles. And if you see something in a space that you don’t like, go through how you’d make changes and what your finished product would look like. All of these mental exercises can really help you to become stronger with your design eye. 

Seek Out A Mentor And Some Pro Bono Clients

Everyone needs someone to look up to. So when you’re trying to figure out what your signature style is, it can be helpful to find someone that you can view as a mentor.

Whether this person is an interior designer themselves or just someone that you think has great style, using this person as a mentor can help you more easily pinpoint the type of designer you want to be. 

Along with this, when you’re ready to really start trying your hand at designing something, try to find people who would be willing to let you design a space for them pro bono. While you won’t be getting paid for this work, the experience you could gain and the reference this client could become for you could be invaluable to your future business. 

If you’re still in school but you want to get in some more practice as an interior designer, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you see how you can accomplish this.