Kari Whitman: Interior Designer

Describe your job:
I work with clients [like Jessica Alba and Kristen Bell] to create beautiful spaces that represent their personalities and styles, selecting fabrics, furniture, paint colors, flooring, tiles, artwork, and more -- sometimes even redesigning entire spaces by knocking out walls and reconstructing rooms! I like to incorporate antiques and pieces [made from recycled material].

Any advice on how to get into interior design?
Take lots of art and drawing classes and really develop a sense of color and what works visually. If it's OK with your parents, experiment with your own room, trying out different wall colors and rearranging furniture so the space feels comfortable and representative of your personality. Go to swap meets, flea markets, and architectural salvage yards for inexpensive and cool furniture and accessories. Read design magazines with different focuses -- traditional, modern, environmentally friendly -- and really develop a sense of what appeals to you. I'd also recommend internships with established designers.

NEXT SLIDE