I am officially in my third year of interior design school and I absolutely have loved *almost* every moment. When I started I wish I would have been more knowledgeable about the products and items I would need for school, especially what brands to choose. I would have saved so much money and time had I known. Now that I am using my tried and true products every day I feel qualified to give you a list of the things you MUST HAVE if you are in interior design school.
- Design Laptop
- This what by far my biggest purchase that I did HOURS of research on. Overall you will need a laptop that can handle running multiple 3D and Rendering programs that can also at once so you will need a very capable laptop.
- Most people will recommend a gaming laptop for their high performance, and I absolutely agree. However, there are HUNDREDS of gaming laptops on the market, some better than others.
- You will want a newer NVIDIA Graphics Card, at last 16GB of RAM (32 is better), and as light as possible since you will be lugging this thing around to classes, sites, and back home again.
- I chose the ASUS ROG x16 linked below and have found it such a great laptop that has been an absolute powerhouse running everything I need.
2. School Bag
I have tried SO many tote bags/backpacks for interior design and this by far has been my favorite. It is light weight, washable, and has the most amazing interior and exterior pockets.
3. Drawing Tables
I use both the architectural table and light table for tracing almost on a daily basis. These are the exact ones of I love and use.
4. Rulers/Templates
Yes, you need this many. They all have their specific uses and I use each almost everyday. You need that big bag to carry them all! The template is really handy because it’s at the most common scale you will use and save you a ton of time drawing furniture/perfect circles/title blocks
5. Sketchbooks/Tracing Paper
I use one sketchbook for class/projects and the smaller more compact for drawing on the go or at a location. Trace paper is a must because you will have lots of edits and tracing over your master plan will be very common. I also trace furniture out of magazines all of the time. The roll is the best because you will be drawing on lots of different size papers.
6. Pens/Pencils
Drawing different line weights will require different weighted pens and pencils. These are my go to brands and sizes. These are also the best erasers because even the best designers make mistakes 🙂
7. Colored markers and water color pencils
These are my favorite products to collect! Copic is absolutely the best for markers, I have never found an alternative that even compares. And the price shows for that 😉 Watercolor pencils are amazing if you can’t watercolor but want that watercolor look on your sketches, you just go over them with a wet paint brush and prepare to be amazed.
8. Model Making
I buy foam core at the local art supply but I prefer to buy my knives and cutting boards on Amazon.
There you have it! Are you starting Interior Design school? Please let me know! I would love to see you on your journey and can’t wait to see what you create.
xx Kylie
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