Emma Stoltzfus – Interior Design Internship

My internship is through Indoor City in Lancaster. Indoor City specializes in flooring, cabinets, countertops, backsplashes and tiling. I have learned a lot just by being in the work environment and by having hands-on experiences to help and assist the employees with their jobs. Overall, I enjoy interning at Indoor City and gained a lot from this experience. I feel that I gained a better understanding of what I want to do as a career.

Some of the jobs I do at my internship are participating in client design meetings, putting away samples, finding discontinued pieces, putting on labels, and making vignettes. I usually help my mentor by printing basic labels for the samples in the showroom or printing bigger more detailed stickers for samples in the backroom so they can soon be displayed. One of my favorite activities to do is participate in client meetings because the customer often has the same questions as I do. Usually they are redoing just a room or two, however, occasionally clients are building a new home and are looking to design many rooms.  After the clients choose the samples they want we then contract through our builder. I find that it is a very good learning experience to interact with both the products and clients.  I am learning about professionalism and how to give advice while simultaneously accounting for what they want and need. I also put away samples that help me learn the items in the showroom and our inventory. Recently, I have been helping pull the discontinued pieces from the showroom and the backroom, which also helps me learn what we have. Lastly, I get the most freedom when I make vignettes. So far, I’ve made a couple and helped create many more. I usually pull samples from every kind of product we sell to create a cohesive piece that usually matches the season.

Overall, I think doing all these tasks helped me better understand what I want to do as a career. Although I am still unclear on what exactly I want to pursue, I do know that interior design is the field for me. I couldn’t picture myself doing anything else even though it isn’t the highest paying job available. I feel more confident with what my career could be because of the real-world hands-on experience. I also gained a lot of knowledge on the products we carry. Continuing I have learned things that will be useful in the future. For example, I know the different types of hardwood and the benefits of each and the difference between granite and quartz countertops.

In conclusion, an internship is a great way to gain experience with very low commitment. It is free and even if you decide you don’t want that career, now you know. I know I learned a lot in just a few weeks and I’m glad I pushed myself to participate in one. Even if I don’t end up in interior design, I still learned valuable skills that can help me regardless of the career I pursue.  I look forward to the remaining months at Indoor City.