Moving away from the classic and often bulky looks of historical interior design furniture, modern interior design furniture tended to follow the ways of the architecture of the last one hundred years, moving to cleaner lines and the use of new materials in designing the furniture.  Although the modern interior design furniture is not always as comfortable or luxurious as the antique furniture of ages past, modern interior design furniture often gives individuals more choices in style, colors, materials and textures to match any room of a house or office that they are decorating.  This allows individuals to more accurately express their taste in furniture, giving them more artistic license in interior design concepts.

Development of the Modern Look

As architecture and the technologies and materials available changed, so did the furniture designers‘ concepts over the last one hundred years.Designers started to use cleaner lines in the furniture they created so that it would match the straight and simplistic lines of the architecture.  For instance, the zigzag chair is shaped like a modified ‘Z’, providing a unique look for a room.  In addition, furniture was made that was mass produced, versus the piece by piece work of the past.  This made the furniture more readily available to more clientele, which was better for the modern interior design furniture industry.

Some designers began experimenting with color, only using bold, primary colors in their furniture.  This was a drastic change from the antique furniture of the past which was normally of wood that was stained a particular color, or painted a white or off-white color, but rarely anything else.  The colors in these modern interior design furniture pieces of the early 1900’s changed the color schemes used in rooms all over the world, introducing bolder looks to the industry.

Steel was also being used in modern interior design furniture since the technology had been developed to use, not solid pieces of steel, but tubular steel, so that it was lighter and better suited for furniture.  Tubular steel is hollow in the middle which creates strength and a more lightweight product for use in modern interior design furniture.  This allowed designers to use the steel in creating unique chairs, dressers, tables and beds, which gave a clean, sharp look to any piece of furniture.  For the first time, metal was paired with leather and other materials to create a comfortable chair or couch that still maintained that sleek, modern look of the era.

Although there is not an interior design school ranking, per say, there are certain qualities that make one design school a better choice over another one.  For instance, if an interior design school is not accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design in the USA or by a similar organization in other countries, then the school should not be considered at all.  In addition, it is a good idea to see how competitive a particular school is because that probably shows which schools have the best programs and attract the best students and faculty.  Some interior design firms will also support some of the best schools by holding contests as well as providing internship positions for top students, which shows that these firms consider the school one of the best or they would not want to hire students from that school.

Another requirement that students should look for is whether the school has an interior design graduate school so that they do not have to change schools should they want to specialize further in their education before starting their career in interior design.Interior design graduate schools provide the specialty areas that students are most interested in, usually providing classes combined with internships to allow students to apply what they learn in gaining their Master’s degrees.

Undergraduate Degrees

Before students can get into interior design graduate schools they must have completed the two year certificate degree and the four year Bachelor’s degree in interior design.  In the best schools, the first two years are spent learning the basics of interior design so that the foundation is there on which to apply the skills in the real world.  Once the certificate degree is gained then students can go on to pursue the Bachelor’s degree for the next two years, wherein they are usually continuing to take some classes as well as participate in internships where they can take on real projects in conjunction with other students and learn from the real world environment. This also helps them to build their portfolios and to start deciding what they want their specialty to be, so that if they decide to go to interior design graduate school they will have a focus of study.

There are different specialties that interior design graduate schools offer in both residential and commercial interior design.  These specialties can have to do with a particular type of design, such as modernism, or it can be particular rooms in houses or businesses such as kitchens or bathrooms.

There are many different qualities to look for in the best interior design schools today.  Whether the education desired is a certificate, undergraduate or graduate interior design school degree, the basic qualities of the best interior design schools are the same across the board.  The application process to get into these schools can be quite a competitive process, especially if the school is one which popular interior design firms hire out of on a regular basis, so it is important that individuals have all of their work and background education in order before applying to the schools.

Searching and Applying

Every one of the best interior design schools are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design in the United States and by similar organizations if in other countries.  If a school is not accredited it should be avoided altogether.  The accreditation process insures that all students will receive a quality and uniform interior design education at that school.  The best interior design schools usually provide for a two year certificate program where the basic interior design concepts are taught and applied on a small scale basis.  The next two to four years are spent in class and internship experiences where students have the opportunity to choose real projects to work on in conjunction with other students and faculty so that they gain more experience in a ’safe’ environment with a lot of support.  This allows them to build their portfolio of work so that it is easier to get hired after receiving their degrees since companies can observe their previous work and talk to references.

The application process for the best interior design schools can be quite arduous.  Every school has its own requirements so it is best to go to the schools catalogue and application’s office to find out what the specific requirements are for that particular school.  However, like many schools, the transcripts of previous educational experience are evaluated for admission as well as the application information for that school.  In addition, there is usually an entrance essay in which the students will need to express why he or she wants to go to that particular school for interior design and why the school should choose him or her for entrance into that school.  Many of the best interior design schools will also require a portfolio of work to be presented before admission, usually of different fine arts materials, but most have specific requirements for the portfolio or work, which may require that individuals spend some time getting the portfolio up to date.