The Next Ty Pennington
When most students think of interior design they think of paint, furniture placement, window treatments and flooring. I was guilty of it myself, that was until I talked with Rachel Herring. Herring is majoring in interior design at Auburn University.
Interior design is a four year program and Herring started in the fall of 2005, she will be done in May of 2009. Herring decided to go into interior design after a trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas.
“I walked into the hotel and could not believe the interior architecture. It was so ornate and every room I walked in I wondered what I would need to know in order to design interior rooms like the ones in Atlantis,� said Herring.
In order to apply to the school of interior design Herring had to go through a somewhat lengthy application process.
“I went to a couple of meetings held by the school of interior design that explained what interior design is. I think the reason they do this is to tell potential students that interior design is not interior decorating. I submitted a portfolio that had 10 pieces of art in it. They were from high school and college and were all different mediums. I put in some sketches, some paint and many other things,� said Herring.
The school of interior design only accepts 40 students per year, making the school extremely competitive.
Anyone who has a friend or knows someone who is a friend of a friend in interior design or architecture has heard the term studio.
“For interior design I have to take eight studio classes, I am currently in my third one. Studio is a big room with drafting tables and each student has their own station and their supplies are there so that you don’t have to transfer your supplies back and forth. It’s basically a room that is open all the time, except game days, in order for students to work on projects.�
Herring said she spends about 15 hours per week in the studio. She spends three-four hours every Tuesday and Thursday in the morning and three-four hours every night on Tuesday and Thursday.
Herring said most people would not think interior design as a hard major, but it is. She said students have to dedicate a lot of time outside of the class room in order to finish projects on time, which she says is great experience for the real world when preparing for meetings with clients.
Herring has been working on projects that use a lot of software, such as Illustrator and Photoshop. Herring said she had to go out and buy a brand new lap top in order for her professors to put all the software she needs on her computer.
“I still have two and a half years to go, so I may learn about something else I want to do, but for now I would like to work on high-end houses,� said Herring about graduation.
To hear more of my conversation with Rachel Herring click the link below.
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