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• Interior Design
• Interior Design Portfolio Tips

16+ Interior Design Portfolio Examples & 4 Easy Steps to Create Yours

A resume alone is never enough in any creative field. Therefore, creating a good interior design portfolio will get you ahead , but failing to do so might cause you a lot of frustration.

In this article, you’ll find some of the best examples to get you inspired. Then we’ll walk you through creating your own stunning portfolio   in 4 easy steps . No matter if you are planning to go to college, seeking employment, or starting freelance work, this article is for you.

16 interior design portfolio examples for inspiration

1. morgan fults.

Morgan Fults' interior design website

Morgan is a residential interior designer with a gift for creating cozy interiors and stunning pottery. She has a keen eye for detail when it comes to her projects and her portfolio as well. We love how her thumbnails work so well together, and how the style and color of her portfolio matches her images.

Template: Archifolio's Agora template

2. Rior Interior

Rior Interior's portfolio website

When you visit Rior Interior's website, you'll immediately see the expertise that they bring to their projects. They speak the language of their ideal clients, they include a lot of excellent render-heavy project pages, which conveys their unique style. They added a contact form, which makes it easy for clients to get in touch with the designers.

Template: Archifolio's Palazzo template

3. Natalya Pukhova

Natalya Pukhova's portfolio created with Archifolio

Natalya's portfolio is so crisp and clean that it immediately amazed us. Her modern scandinavian style shines through her portfolio with the light colors with earthy tones. Spot-on! She created a very visual interior design portfolio, with professional images and limited amounts of text.

Template: Archifolio's Museum template

4. Kelsey Heims

Kelsey created her beautiful portfolio with Archifolio

Kelsey's portfolio is a perfect example of a stunning interior design student portfolio . She doesn't have much experience to showcase, so she got creative. She included two stunning bedroom decorating projects and some hand renderings. What a perfect way to showcase your skills and get your hands dirty as a student.

5. Stephenie Edwards

Stephanie Edwards' PDF portfolio created with Archifolio

Stephanie is a freshly graduated interior designer based in Australia. The portfolio cover she created with her modern farmhouse project is stunning in itself, yet our favorite part is the way she structured her project pages. She has some beautiful renders, but they are in perfect harmony with her technical images.

6. Irena Voronina

Irena Voronina's portfolio

7. Isabella Turner

A mock project created with Archifolio

This site is bright, airy, and eye-catching. The projects are all on different pages, but there are sneak peeks in a gallery section right away on the home page. This is a website created by the designers at Archifolio.

Template: Archifolio's Modular template

8. Fiona Anthony

Fiona Anthony's interior design portfolio

9. Clarissa Tay

Clarissa Tay's portfolio

10. Güliz Çetin Mbagaya

Güliz Çetin Mbagaya's portfolio

11. Fatima Israr Studio

Fatima Israr Studio's portfolio

12. Matthew Gallahan

Mock project by Archifolio

13. Mustafa Abid Paracha

Mustafa Abid Paracha's architecture portfolio

14. Luca Weber

Luca Weber's portfolio

15. Grace Adams

Grace Adam's portfolio

16. Lily Moore

Lily Moore's portfolio

And now, let’s look at the 4 easy steps that will help you create a stunning portfolio:

Step 1: Identify your goals

Before jumping into designing your portfolio, you first need to identify your goals. For instance, these can be:

• Building a clientele for your freelance practice,
• Becoming employed as an interior designer,
• Landing an internship as an undergraduate, or
• Getting accepted to uni as a high school student.

Let’s get into the details: How can you tailor your portfolio to best suit your goals?

1. As a freelance interior designer…

Recommended format : website

• min. 5 projects,
• your services and design process,
• the client brief,
• before-after pictures of renovations,
• easy-to-read floor plans,
• professional photography of the finished projects,
• client testimonials, and
• contact form.

Only include those types of projects that you’d like to work on. For instance, if you want to get commercial clients, don’t publish your residential projects.

Structure :

• Home page (with your location & services),
• About page,
• Portfolio (with separate pages for each of your projects), and
• Contact page.

Get into the habit of asking:

• Who is my ideal client?
• What concerns do they have when they visit my page?
• What are they interested in?
• What makes them want to work with me?

No matter where and how a client finds you, they will Google you. The name of the game is building credibility. So, include client testimonials and awards you've won.

It's paramount to speak your ideal client's language. For example, if you work in residential design, your clients will most likely not appreciate the use of design and construction jargon. Whereas commercial clients might consider it vague and unprofessional if you aren’t using the terminology they use.

Rior Interior is a freelance practice with a stunning portfolio created with Archifolio

It’s the same with visual content. When working with residential clients, don’t showcase your detailed construction drawings. Instead include photography of finished projects and before-after images.

Make sure that the quality of all your images is top-of-the-line, as they will do most of the work. Use a scanner for your sketches and hire a professional photographer.

2. As an employed interior designer…

Recommended   format : website and/or PDF

Recruiters are far more interested in your thought process than the outcome.

• 3-10 projects
• contextual information about the projects (e.g. size of the project),
• your role and tasks in each project,
• a short description of the project and client brief,
• first sketches,
• mood boards & inspiration,
• floor plans & furniture layouts,
• technical drawings,
• 3D visualization, and
• photography of finished project.

You can include projects you’ve worked on while at a previous firm. Just write “Designed while at _____” and credit the photographer and others who worked on it. But make sure that there’s no NDA.

• Cover page (a.k.a. Home page)
• Resume page
• Table of contents (a.k.a project thumbnails for websites)
• Project pages

If you are seeking employment, you'll need to tailor each application to the job at hand to make it relevant. To do this, you need to have a clear understanding of the sort of firm you are applying to.

• Check their projects and their company profile (their values, services, and specializations).
• Analyze the job description (position, requirements, must-have skills).

List all this information and include these points in some form or another.

Staphanie Edwards' PDF portfolio

To avoid having to create a new portfolio every time, create a master portfolio and just cherry-pick the projects you want to include.

Here's how this process looks with Archifolio : You create your master portfolio website with all of your projects. Then, you export your portfolio (with certain projects hidden if they aren't relevant) as a PDF, and send this highly tailored portfolio as an email attachment. If you intrigued them, and they want to see more, you can send a link to your website (a.k.a. your master portfolio), where they can check out all your work.

Make it as easy as possible to view and understand your work. Hiring managers are usually in a hurry to review the thousands of applications they receive. Thus, the smoother their experience is with yours, the happier they are.

3. As an undergraduate student…

Recommended   format : PDF

Avoid sending a file that’s bigger than 10 MB.

• your final thesis,
• class projects,
• models, furniture designs,
• conceptual drawings,
• renders, and
• technical drawings.

Be ruthless with the selection and only include those projects that you’re proud of.

• Home page (a.k.a. Cover page),
• Resume page,
• Table of contents (a.k.a project thumbnails for websites),
• Academic projects, and
• Artworks & extracurriculars.

4. As a high school student …

Recommended   format: PDF

• photography,
• sculptures, and/or
• any artwork that shows your understanding of 3D visualization.
• Cover page,
• Motivational letter,
• Experiments with 3D designs/rendering.

The people in the admissions office are interested in your affinity for arts in general and how much you are willing to learn.

Have the piece you are most proud of in the beginning, to make a statement about your abilities right at the start. Afterward, show your progress chronologically and end with your second-best piece (which often is the most recent) to have a wow factor at the end too.

Step 2: Settle on a format

Once you have an idea about how to create your portfolio and what to include, you need to settle on a format. Here are the most common types and their comparison:

1. Online portfolios

Portfolio websites have been on the rise in the past few years. No wonder, everybody is trying to build an online presence.

Now, let’s see the pros and cons of online portfolios:

• Quick to create,
• Easily shareable,
• There are tons of templates available,
• Easy to update at any time,
• Interactive,
• Customizable, and
• Looks professional to have a website (think www.yourname.com)
• A backup is needed,
• Can’t be viewed without an Internet connection,
• Sometimes you need coding skills (with traditional website builders), and
• It’s hard to print it.

How to make an online design portfolio? You have two options: You may either use a general website-building tool (e.g. WordPress). Or, you can choose a website builder, like Archifolio , created for interior designers and architects. The latter will give you tons of guidance and pro tips along the way and there’s no need to learn to code.

Archifolio is your one-stop portfolio creator. It allows you to showcase your work professionally, customize it to your needs, and get the job that you want.

2. Offline portfolios (PDF)

The second most widespread portfolio type is the offline portfolio. This is a PDF file, which has a rather strict order:

• portfolio cover,
• interior design resume (and cover letter),
• contents page,
• title page, and
• project page for each of your projects.

Let’s see the pros and cons of offline portfolios:

• Endless customizability,
• Can be viewed without an Internet connection,
• No need for coding skills, and
• Graphic design skills are needed,
• Difficult to share (if the file size is too big, you can’t send it via email),
• Once you send it, you can’t edit it,
• Difficult to edit and update, and
• It’s time-consuming to create from scratch.

3. Printed portfolio

Printed portfolios have been losing popularity in recent years and not many employers or admission offices are stating it as a requirement. However, this is why creating a printed portfolio can help you stand out in a positive way. Let’s analyze the pros and cons:

• It feels professional to show your portfolio in print,
• Less common, which helps you stand out, and
• Can be viewed without an Internet connection.
• Time-consuming to create,
• Expensive to print,
• A pain in the neck to carry around and post when you want to share it, and
• Not updatable.

What kind of portfolio do you need for your interior design career?

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this question. However, our recommendation is to have a combination of all the above:

• a website for your master portfolio,
• a PDF work sample to make a good first impression, and
• a printed portfolio to wow your interviewers.

We created a tool for you to do all of these quickly and easily. Archifolio has unlimited storage for your online master portfolio. Plus, with a click of a button, you can download your PDF portfolio for online use or for print.

Step 3: Share your portfolio in the right way

Different employers, and institutions may prefer different ways of sharing a portfolio. The most common way remains to be sending the portfolio in an email. But to do so, you have a couple of options:

• you can send your online portfolio's link (connecting your own domain, like www.yourname.com makes it really professional)
• you can upload your PDF to a free hosting service (e.g. Issuu) and send that link, or
• you can send the PDF file as an email attachment (but make sure it's less than 10 MB).

When you're writing an email, forget greetings like “To whom it may concern”. Dig a little deeper and find out the person your email does concern.

If you're applying to a university, you'll most likely be asked to submit your portfolio through the university's application software. If it's the case, stick to PDF, don't upload JPEG or DOC files, as these are usually not even opened.

As a freelancer, having a website is a must, but we also strongly advise you to get active on social media. Your main aim is to show that you're an expert, so that potential clients find your portfolio.

If you'd like to help clients find you, optimize your site for the search engines. This way when someone is searching for an interior designer in your area, your portfolio can be the first result.

Step 4: Present your portfolio with confidence

If you don't know how to talk about your portfolio, it doesn't matter how perfect your portfolio is. Refresh your memory from time to time so that you know everything about your projects.

When you're preparing for a job application or client pitch, practice makes perfect. Talk about your projects out loud or ask a friend or colleague to listen to your presentation.

Be prepared for all types of interviewers. Some people sit back and listen until you are finished and only ask questions at the end, while others prefer a discussion. Prepare for both.

Don’t forget to practice your presentation through the most well-known online communication software (Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, etc) to look professional no matter what.

If you are in doubt about what to say about your previous projects, remember the rule of the 5 Cs:

• Context : What kind of projects was it? What was your role in the project?
• Client brief : What was the desired outcome? What was the project about?
• Challenge : What was your biggest obstacle in the project? Were there any limitations (of budget or time for example)?
• Competence : How did you tackle the challenge? What skills did you need or design decisions did you make to overcome the difficulties?
• Conclusion (or Consequence ): What was the outcome? Was the client satisfied with the result?

For example:

This project was a residential remodeling project of 120 square feet back in 2022. I was the design lead working closely together with a project manager. The clients wanted to remodel their kitchen to utilize the space and the natural light better. However, they had a very tight deadline, as the family lived in the house during the renovation, and they wanted to get back in their kitchen as soon as possible. I managed to prioritize the tasks very well and worked efficiently under time pressure, and I carried out the design documentation is record time. Since then, the remodeling has been finished, and the clients have personally thanked me for making the most of their kitchen space both in terms of storage and natural light.

What makes a good portfolio? Top 5 tips for success

So now that you have all the means to create your stunning portfolio, we brought you the top 5 tips that can help you take it to the next level:

1. Show your design process

Showing your design process will allow your interviewers to get a glimpse of your way of thinking and see much more than a beautiful interior. Chances are that when you apply for a job, your competition will also have great designs, so you need to stand out from the crowd and you can do that by walking them through your design approach.

2. Make an impression – Tell a story

Generally, people remember stories better than facts. You can use this to your advantage by walking your audience through your projects by telling a story. Before and after pictures show a great visual comparison, which can be remembered for a long time.

3. Make it easy to view

As mentioned above, hiring managers generally give only a couple of minutes to each portfolio. Therefore, you need to make sure that you choose a format that is easily accessible. What’s more, having clear navigation and layouts makes their experience better.

Also, it’s best practice to make your portfolio skimmable. You can for example do this with bullet points and highlighting important information from texts. Rely on the visuals instead of texts, which brings us to tip #4.

4. Let your pictures do the talking

We mentioned above, but it’s crucial, so we’ll repeat it: Have high-quality images. Your images are what give soul to your portfolio. Therefore, you should allow a considerable amount of room for them. What’s more, don’t be afraid of whitespace. It will allow your pictures to shine even more.

5. Show your personality

In short, your portfolio should be about you and your work. So, don’t leave out your personality, your interests, and your approach to life itself. The whole point of your portfolio is to introduce yourself in a professional way and in conclusion that’s what makes a great portfolio.

Well done for taking this time to do something useful for your interior design career by reading this article!

We hope that you got the motivation to start building your portfolio. If so, then give our tool, Archifolio a try. You’ll find stunning templates and get tons of guidance on how to create a portfolio that stands out. 

Fanni Szalkai

Marketing Manager of Archifolio, Architecture Portfolio Expert & Tiny House Enthusiast 🏡

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Home > Furniture Design > Furniture Design Masters Theses

Furniture Design Masters Theses

Highly experimental and individualized, the graduate program in Furniture Design supports each student’s artistic development and articulation of an individual design philosophy through the conception, design and construction of furniture and related objects. The work produced ranges from one-of-a-kind objects, to designs for limited or mass production, to experimental, conceptually based projects. Aesthetic considerations in conjunction with a fluent use of materials and processes to support individual design concepts are paramount.

MFA candidates produce a final body of work and accompanying written thesis as an articulation of the graduate process, simultaneously aiding self-definition and demonstrating a personal point of view. MFA candidates are also required to mount a professional solo exhibition. Their personally selected thesis committee assists in developing a timeline for the exhibition based on assessments of each student’s proposal and progress. In addition, graduating students exhibit in the RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition , a large-scale public show held annually.

Graduate Program Director : Lothar Windels

These works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License .

Theses from 2023 2023

A Part Apart , Spenser Atlas

The Approach: A Promise of Warmth Inside , Louis Cohen

Objects of Daydreaming , Aaron Lorenz

Elusive Geometry , Lauren Richards

Living in nature & design with nature , yuya zhou

Theses from 2022 2022

Notes to myself , Anna Dawson

A wavering line , Ginger Gordon

Just enough , Amelia Greteman

Miles and miles and miles , Shannon Rose Jones

In this form, together , Elana Shvalbe

Mood follows matter , Maxwell Taylor-Milner

The sky is falling , Alexis Tingey

Slow puzzle , Tzyy Yi Young

Theses from 2021 2021

Polyrhythms , Kevin Costante

Loose threads / Hilos sueltos , Estefanía de Ros

Taking care , John Dixon

What do I see between 2 to 8 o'clock , Youtian Duan

Dress your chair , Yumeng Gai

This trash is someone else's problem , Lauren Goodman

Making meaning , Eric Loucks

An evolving process: patterns and objects , Shreya Tuli

Theses from 2020 2020

You are trapped. , Will Chouinard

Erik DeGiorgi , Erik DeGiorgi

Slick and lumpy : heavy cream , Emma Fague

This feels familiar , E. Winslow Funaki

Glurp, glurp, glurp , Zihe Gong

Cross your fingers , Ayumi Kodama

Kainan Liu , Kainan Liu

Internal resonance , Xiangyu Wang

Utopian fantasy , Yue Zhuo

Theses from 2019 2019

Mis jarrones , Marco Sebastián Arroyo Hoebens

American Slavic : and other writings , Zac Banik

Stepping aside , Juan Pablo Gutiérrez García

Conversations in 2019 , Kit Howland

Works and process , Alex Hsu

Sky is sinking below the trees : two years of documentation and observations , Xuelun Li

Externalized : origins of aesthetic motivations , Tim Miller

Theses from 2018 2018

A natural circus , Cecilia Plasencia

Theses from 2017 2017

Re-structure : an exploration of relational engagement through objects & object making , Mark Epler

Transformation through drawing and gesture , McKenzie Gibson

Living rooms we don't live in anymore , Caroline Kable

Familiar strangers , Rebecca Li

Between thoughts : on the interconnectivity of things , Yunzhu Wang

Poetic features beyond functions , Lu Xu

Expressionism in furniture , Zihan Zhang

Theses from 2016 2016

Verb things: changing the conversation , Kendra Kirchmer

Frequency , Andrew Pick

Theses from 2015 2015

Objects in mind , Leah Kenttämaa-Squires

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74 Exceptional Architecture Portfolios

• Written by Dima Stouhi
• Published on December 03, 2019

Technical skills: check. Visually coherent content: check. Distinctive personal input on both the projects and portfolio design: double check.

Although résumés and portfolios can be somewhat flat when it comes to informative content, it is their ability to present an applicant's unique sense of style that makes or breaks an application. Whether it’s a deliberate image selection, or a clear, consistent layout, some people manage to fulfill all the criteria needed in a successful portfolio . Issuu , the world’s largest online digital publishing platform that allows anyone—from architects to global brands to fresh graduates—to publish their creative content online, has hand-picked their top 74 exceptional architecture portfolios . The selected architects have managed to showcase their impressive projects and technical skills in portfolios that reflect their creative mindset.

We’re not saying you should judge a book by its cover, but some "covers" can’t help but stand out from the rest, for all the right reasons. Take a look at Issuu ’s list of top architecture portfolios here , and see a few of our personal favorites below.

Just as Issuu says: If you’re looking for the next big thing, "see who has a pencil, piece of paper, and plenty of imagination.”

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What Do You Need To Write a Great Interior Design Thesis?

If you are an interior design graduate student, you most likely have plans to further your studies in this field.  One of the best ways to do this is by writing a superb thesis for your graduate level. This will not only show the faculty about your seriousness in this profession but also prepare you for the tougher tasks ahead.  

Writing a thesis is not easy and before you get started, you need to identify and understand all the requirements. This article explores different things you need to write a superb interior design thesis including choosing the best topic, outlining your paper, reading sample papers from ThessisHelpers , among other things.

Read on and learn how you can ace your thesis project.

Start With The Project Requirements

It is true you have an idea of what to write about but this should wait first. The most important thing you need to write a great thesis is to understand the rules and guidelines. Every college has its unique writing philosophy and you need to follow the set requirements to avoid intermittent revisions. Discuss the project requirements with other students and seek clarification from your professor before you start writing.  

1. A Great Topic

Your thesis is only as great as the topic you choose. Many MA students rush to pick the topic while this task is the most important in the writing process. Now that you know the writing guidelines start brainstorming for project ideas from different sources including family and friends, your teachers, other students, online writing services among other sources.

Choose an interesting topic that will engross you during research and which readers will also enjoy. Don’t choose a very broad topic because you have neither the time nor the space to exhaust it all. Your topic should also benefit the interior design industry and the academic community.

2. Create A Writing Schedule

You have to reorganize your life when you start working on your thesis to avoid stress. You can do this by creating a writing schedule. Poor organization is one of the main causes of stress in college according to a survey by College Parents and to overcome the challenge; you have to plan your writing and other responsibilities.

3. Write Down Your Thesis Objectives

The rule of thumb in writing is always to have a goal when you start writing. If you have no idea what your thesis will achieve, there’s no need for writing it. Set clear objectives and goals for your paper as these will act as the yardsticks to guide you. If you write without any objectives, you will not only struggle during research but readers will get confused along the way and lose attention.

4. Set Your Thesis Within The Interior Design Context

If you want your thesis to have a great impact, then take time to observe the contemporary interior design world and write something that provides a solution or provokes new thinking in your chosen profession. For instance, you can talk about the impact of interior design on the environment or such a mind-provoking idea. Avoid academic topics that add no value to your profession.

You should consider using an essay writing professional to augment your thoughts. With these few ideas, you can write a great interior design thesis with an impact on the industry.