- 1Free online courses cover core interior design topics like color theory, space planning, and sketching techniques
- 2MIT OpenCourseWare publishes free materials from MIT design courses; like the other resources here, it does not award a certificate or credit
- 3Practical resources like BetterHomes and Coco Kelley help learners apply concepts through project guides and visual inspiration
Interior design combines aesthetics, functionality, and client psychology -- skills that take years to develop through formal education alone. Free online courses, blogs, and design communities accelerate that learning by providing expert instruction, visual inspiration, and practical exercises at no cost. Freelance interior designers can also set up a professional booking page so clients can easily schedule consultations.
This guide covers 9 free online resources that teach interior design fundamentals, from color theory and space planning to furniture arrangement and sketching techniques.
Free Online Courses for Interior Designers
The first group suits students and career changers learning the fundamentals. The second is more useful for practicing designers who want to keep up with trends and client-facing work.
For Students and Career Changers
MIT OpenCourseWare: Design Course Materials
MIT's OpenCourseWare publishes free materials from MIT courses, including architecture and design courses, covering topics such as design fundamentals, representation, and design history. Available materials vary by course (lecture notes, assignments, and sometimes video). It does not award a certificate or academic credit, but it is a rigorous way to study design theory for aspiring interior designers.
DecoratingStudio: Design School Directory
DecoratingStudio no longer appears to host its own decorating lessons; the site now mainly sells decorative trim and supplies. It does maintain a list of interior design and decorating schools by state, which is a useful starting point if you want to move from free material to a formal program.
Howcast: Interior Design Basics
Howcast offers short, focused video lessons on specific interior design topics such as budgeting a bedroom redesign, choosing paint colors, and arranging furniture in small spaces. The bite-sized format makes it practical for self-directed learners who want to fill specific knowledge gaps rather than commit to a full course.
YouTube: Interior Design Sketch Courses
YouTube hosts hundreds of free tutorials on interior design sketching, from basic perspective drawing to detailed rendering techniques. For designers who present concepts to clients through hand-drawn sketches, these courses develop a critical presentation skill that distinguishes professionals from amateurs.
For Practicing Designers
BetterHomes: Practical Guides
BetterHomes provides multi-format content -- articles, videos, and audio guides -- organized into dedicated sections for kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and outdoor spaces. Its practical, project-oriented approach makes it especially useful for designers who learn by doing, as the guides often walk through complete room transformations with before-and-after examples.
HGTV Design 101: Keep Up to Date With Styles
HGTV's Design 101 section is a continuously updated library of articles, videos, photo galleries, and slideshows covering current design trends. Each page links to related content that pulls you deeper into specific topics, making it an excellent resource for designers who need to stay current with what clients are seeing on television and social media.
Coco Kelley: Fresh Takes on the Classics
Coco Kelley is a design blog that uses high-quality photography to showcase professionally designed homes, hotels, and restaurants. For visual learners, browsing this site is like a virtual tour of design excellence -- each image conveys principles of color, proportion, and material selection that are difficult to teach through text alone.
Houzz: A Decor Community
Houzz is both a visual design platform and a community of 35 million homeowners, designers, and contractors. Its curated photo galleries provide inspiration organized by room, style, and budget, while the blog features case studies and expert design advice. For new interior designers, Houzz also functions as a marketplace where you can list services and connect with potential clients.
The Furnitureco Blog: Decor
The Furnitureco Blog focuses specifically on furniture selection, arrangement, and styling within interior spaces. Its practical guides help designers give rooms a polished look quickly by focusing on the furnishing decisions that have the biggest visual impact -- useful for designers who need to stage spaces within tight timelines.
What Is Interior Design?
Interior design creates attractive, functional, and safe spaces that meet each client's specific needs. The discipline covers space planning, material selection, lighting design, color coordination, and furniture arrangement. Professional interior designers analyze client requirements, develop concepts, and produce detailed plans and specifications that guide construction and installation.
What Will I Learn in an Interior Design Course?
Free online interior design courses typically cover:
- Interior and spatial design principles
- Color psychology and theory
- Space management and furniture arrangement
- Fabric and material selection
- Digital design tools and visualization
- Current design trends and movements
- Portfolio development
What Does an Interior Designer Do?
Interior designers balance three core elements: comfort, aesthetics, and functionality. They work with variables including textures, furniture, lighting, color, and spatial layout to create environments that serve both practical needs and visual appeal. Designers may work on new construction plans, renovations, or staging projects, collaborating with architects, contractors, and clients throughout the process.
Conclusion
Free online courses make interior design education accessible to anyone willing to invest time in learning. Starting with MIT's academic approach or Houzz's visual inspiration, building a foundation of design knowledge opens doors to a creative career. As you start taking on clients, scheduling software can cut the back-and-forth of booking client meetings.
For example, with SchedulingKit a designer can offer a free 20-minute discovery call by Zoom or Google Meet and a paid in-home consultation from one booking page. Clients only see times that are open on the designer's connected Google, Outlook, or Apple calendar and get an email confirmation. On the Standard plan ($12 per seat per month) or higher, the designer can take a deposit for the consultation through Stripe, PayPal, or Square and send SMS reminders to clients who opt in. SchedulingKit books the meetings only; design projects, approvals, and documents stay in your design or project management software.
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