11 Interior Design School Supplies Part I
*Updated April 2016
Before I began my first semester of interior design school, I searched high and low for a list of interior design school supplies. I couldn't find anything. I was eager, but I also wanted to be a prepared as possible. So I thought I would help students who are entering their first semester of interior design school.
Interior Design School Supplies for First-Week Survival
- Herschel Supply Co. Tote BagThis bag is perfect to carry all of your supplies. It will fit a laptop, books, ruler, water bottle, etc.
- MacBook Pro Of course, you don't need a MacBook. It's my preference, but you do need a computer with a good amount of memory and storage. You will be running multiple programs at once and you don't want a computer that can't handle it. I have a 15inch MacBook Pro with 4GB 12GB of memory and 500GB of storage. I installed Parallels to run Windows on my Mac. This allows me to run programs like Revit and 3DS Max that are not available for the Mac.
- Apple Magic Mouse Using your mouse pad is ok until you get to Auto CAD. Your finger will eventually cramp up. You don't want that. A mouse is good and this Wacom Bamboo Tablet is good too.
- Beats Studio Just like the MacBook Pro, you don't necessarily need these specific headphones. They are my preference. These are perfect for you studio classes when you need to concentrate on your projects. This semester my studio class is from 2pm to 6pm. Yes, that's 4 hours!
- Adobe Creative Suite (Student Edition) Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign are good tools to have already installed on your computer. You will use them for renderings, presentations, etc. Microsoft Office Suite, AutoCAD, and Revit are needed as well.
- Graphite Pencils One of the first classes you will take is a drawing class. You will learn the basics and these pencils are necessary.
- Ruler You will need this for your drawing class and your studio class. It's a basic essential and self-explanatory.
- Pens The Pilot Precise V5 and V7 are good starter pens to have for your drawing class.
- Bobble Water Bottle This BPA-free water bottle is perfect for keeping you hydrated. Long hours on campus can be exhausting and water is necessary.
- Pencil Case Stylish and cute to keep all your pens and pencils in place.
- Sketchbook Keep all your sketches, ideas, and drawings in one place. A spiral sketchbook will be the easiest to draw on.
This is a basic list. You will spend much more on very specific supplies. I think my first semester I spent close to $300 dollars for my drawing class alone.