Interior Design

Interior design is the creative and technical discipline concerned with shaping the internal environments in which people live, work, shop, eat and receive care. It combines spatial thinking, material knowledge, an understanding of human behaviour and aesthetic sensibility to create spaces that are both functional and meaningful. Interior design draws on architecture, art history, ergonomics, colour theory and construction technology, and it requires designers who can translate client requirements and cultural context into spatial solutions that work on every practical level while also communicating something about how a space should feel.

The Open University offers this programme through distance learning, studied part-time, which makes it accessible to students who need the flexibility to study alongside employment, family commitments or other responsibilities. The Open University's established distance learning model provides structured learning materials, online tutorials and academic support, and the flexibility of part-time study suits people who may already be working in a design-related field and wish to formalise or extend their skills. You will engage with design history, spatial planning, materials and surfaces, lighting, colour and the professional practice of interior design.

Graduates work as interior designers across residential, commercial, hospitality, retail and healthcare sectors, either as employed designers within studios and large organisations or as freelancers working directly with clients. The ability to study part-time while building a professional practice or portfolio is particularly relevant in a field where self-employment is common and where a body of practical work is often as important as formal qualifications. Postgraduate study in interior design, spatial design or architecture provides a route for those who wish to develop their practice further or move toward more complex and specialist design projects.