One of the most shocking parts about being in interior design school was the amount of supplies there was to buy. In my first year, it seemed like every week there was something new we needed in order to complete a project. Not only was it a lot, the supplies wasn’t exactly cheap either. It can get pretty pricey actually.
The way my school works is that in first year everything is drafted and drawn by hand. In second year of interior design school, we begin using programs like AutoCAD, Revit and Enscape. By this point it makes you wonder why you spent so much money on supplies in the first place. Don’t worry though sketching and drafting by hand is not completely dead yet! It can actually be very useful and you will definitely use it in the future.
If you’re about to take a Bachelor of Interior Design here’s a list of things I used the MOST so far in my degree.
1. Measuring Tape
When you first begin taking interior design this will be an extremely useful tool to have. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I needed my measuring tape to get the general size of a door, table or ceiling for that matter. Using measuring tape will help you to remember the sizes of things more effectively as you take the measurements by hand. It’ll also provide you a better understanding of what these measurements look like in the real world.
At my school we had multiple projects where it was mandatory for us to go into a given area and hand measure everything. Without a measuring tape we would have been screwed. Besides, having a measuring tape is useful thing to have even if you’re not in interior design school!
2. Markers
I never pictured myself using markers instead of coloured pencils when it comes to drawing. It’s probably because I wasn’t very skilled at drawing before I began school. It’s embarrassing to say, but I literally used crayola coloured pencils for my entry portfolio submission. I love markers now and I use them so much more than coloured pencils.
The unfortunate thing is they can be pretty expensive (especially the good ones). I also do notice a difference in my work when I use good markers. That being said, if you’re just starting out and not willing to spend the money I’d definitely check out the brand Touch Five. I bought them on Amazon awhile back and was pleasantly surprised.
At the end of the day, I do notice a difference in using brands like Touch and Copic and I definitely gravitate towards them more. That’s not to say that I don’t use Touch Five though because I definitely do. They are a great back up to have in your marker collection and you can buy a lot of them for very cheap.
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3. A Good Laptop
Now this completely depends on the programs you use while you’re in school. I got by with a macbook air for the first while using AutoCAD but as soon as we began using Revit and Enscape it became difficult. I had no choice but to use school computers at this point. This resulted in way too many late nights spent at the school. So much so that security was kicking my friends and I out of the computer labs almost every night. Let’s just say I was basically living there.
I would suggest getting a laptop with Windows 10 if you’re due for a new one.
If you’re interior design school uses the program Enscape you’ll probably need a gaming laptop with a good graphics card. I have the MSI GL75 with a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphic card and it works perfectly for the programs we use.
Make sure you talk to your school first and don’t go out and buy a new laptop unless you need to. In my case it was necessary.
4. Tracing Paper
You will use sooo much tracing paper during your time at school. If your teachers are anything like ours they will want you to bring tracing paper to class everyday. This allows them to draw over your work and help you with planning, ideas or fixing any mistakes you may have made. I use tracing paper all the time for planning out floor plans, space planning and sketching. The best part is you can just keep stacking new sheets on top of your work to come up with various new ideas.
I buy tracing paper in the rolls. It’s a lot less expensive and you get way more than what you would with the paper pads.
5. Architectural Scale
You will absolutely need an architectural scale. Every single project that you do will be set at a particular scale. When you do things by hand you’ll need to use your architectural scale to measure out the size.
For example if your project is set a 1/4″ =1′-0″ . You will not know what that looks like until you use your architectural scale (especially in the beginning).
6. Portfolio (Or Transport Tube)
We use a ton of 11 x 17 paper in school. If you’re interior design school uses irregular sized paper like us, you’ll need something to protect your work and store it in. I like using a portfolio more than a transport tube because it keeps my paper flat and more organized.
I started off with a transport tube and I didn’t like how all of my papers became rolled up after being in it for too long. It also made it easy to become unorganized as all of your papers are just stored openly in one single tube.
The tube can however be handy if you’re floor plans are huge. It’s also great for protecting your work from the rain!
7. 11 x 17 Printer
As an interior design student you will constantly be scanning and printing work. Luckily my school has 11 x 17 printers. The amount of times I’ve woken up an hour early to go the school so that I can print before class is insane. Would it have made my life a little bit easier to buy an 11 x 17 printer? Yes. Was I willing to spend the money? No.
Hopefully you’re school has some good printers you can use so you don’t have to spend more money than you need to. There were some people in my program that decided it was worth buying the printer so it completely depends on your situation. I lived close enough to the school that it didn’t bother me going now and then to scan and print.
8. A Sketch Book
Having a sketch book is great. You can use it for so many things and it helps you draw inspiration for your projects.
In my second year, our sketch book was worth marks so it really forced me to put pen to paper and come up with various ideas. I used mine for all sorts of purposes such as mind mapping, note taking in class and out of class, sketching, diagramming, etc.
Having a sketchbook is such a good way to get your creativity flowing!
