What will I learn in Ulleo’s Interior Design & Decoration (Essentials) course?

Course Overview

This short course is your hands-on guide to creating beautiful, functional interior spaces. Developed in collaboration with leading interior design professionals, you’ll go behind the scenes into this exciting and creative industry. Whether you're looking to refine your living spaces, embark on a new career path, or simply fuel your passion for design, our short course will equip you with the tools and confidence to bring your creative visions to life.

Key Features

IDA endorsement
Access to SketchUp (industry software)
Regular live events with mentors and guest designers
Direct support from leading industry experts, ready to guide your learning and answer your questions.
Community support via LMS, live chat, phone, and email
Exclusive Student Membership: 50% off IDA membership
FREE Resene Student Specifier Kit (included with your course)
Flexible payment options
Sustainability focus – tree planting initiative
Guided study plans
10-day money-back guarantee (excluding deposits)
12 months’ access (extensions available)
Certificate of Completion + LinkedIn Digital Badge

Course Structure

Duration: ~60 hours including workshops
Study time: 1–2 hrs/week
Lessons (6):

Design Fundamentals
Spatial Planning
Lighting
Colour
Materiality
Furniture & Styling

Focus: Core design skills, theory, and client project workflow.

What You’ll Learn

Upon completing our Interior Design & Decoration Essentials short course, you’ll be able to:

Apply fundamental design principles and styles to analyse and enhance interior spaces.
Create functional and user-centric layouts that optimise space utilisation and flow.
Design effective lighting schemes that enhance ambience and functionality.
Use colour theory to develop impactful and harmonious colour palettes.
Select materials and finishes that support a space's aesthetic, durability, and sustainability.
Choose and arrange furniture and accessories to create cohesive and visually engaging environments.

Career Outcomes

Interior Designer
Interior Decorator
Property Stylist
Colour Consultant
Pre-Purchase Design Consultant
Retail Design & Colour Consultant

Requirements

Laptop/PC with internet, general computer skills, optional SketchUp/CAD technology

Mentors & Collaborators

Mentor: Jenna Cottis, Director at Ryan Creative.
Collaborators: Pia Watson, Isabelle Foley, Tom Mark Henry, Jardan, Designing Interiors, Atelier Ten, Design & Co, Materialised, Resene Paint

Mentor Interactions

Live events and workshops: Attend regular sessions to learn from your mentors and inspiring industry guests.
Feedback on your work: Receive detailed feedback on your activities and assignments to help you grow and improve.
One-on-one session: At the end of the course, you can book a one-on-one session with one of your mentors to ask any final questions and receive advice on the next steps.
Discussion board: Ask a question in one of the discussion boards. Note that as a busy professional working in the industry, your mentor may only respond to some comments here due to the volume of activity.

Activities & Assignments

During your course, you’ll complete various hands-on activities and assignments where you can put your new skills into practice and receive valuable feedback from your industry mentors.

Knowledge Checks. After each lesson, you’ll complete a Knowledge Check—a short quiz that assesses your understanding of the key concepts presented in the lesson.
Activity: Draw a Floor Plan. In this activity, you’ll create a detailed floor plan showing a functional and visually appealing layout. (bubble diagram + floor plan) Note: you do not have to use SketchUp to complete your floor plan drawing. You can use any drawing tools, or even hand draw your floor plan.
Final Project: Concept Presentation. This is where all you learned from this course will come to life! The goal of this project is for you to experience the interior design process from the client briefing stage to a concept presentation. Note: you do not have to use SketchUp to complete your floor plan drawing. You can use any drawing tools, or even hand draw your floor plan.

SketchUp FAQs

What is SketchUp

SketchUp is a popular and versatile 3D modeling software used by professionals and hobbyists across various industries, including architecture, interior design, landscape design, and engineering. It offers an intuitive interface and a wide range of tools that allow users to create, edit, and visualize 3D models efficiently.

Developed by Trimble Inc., SketchUp has two primary versions: SketchUp Free, a web-based version, and SketchUp Pro, a paid desktop version with additional features and capabilities.

Some of the key features of SketchUp include:

Easy-to-use interface for drawing, editing, and manipulating 3D objects
Push and pull technology for creating 3D shapes quickly
A vast library of pre-built components and textures (SketchUp Pro)
Import and export capabilities for various file formats
Integration with other design tools like AutoCAD and 3ds Max
Rendering and animation tools (SketchUp Pro)
Plugins and extensions for added functionality (SketchUp Pro)

SketchUp enables designers to transform their ideas into realistic 3D models, providing a powerful tool for visualisation, communication, and collaboration.

Do I need to learn/use SketchUp?

Learning about SketchUp is entirely optional! Feel free to skip the SketchUp topic pages by clicking ‘Mark Complete’ and continuing with the remaining lessons and topics.

How do I get SketchUp?

If you want to explore SketchUp, we recommend checking out their free web browser version: SketchUp for Web, available from the Lesson 2 course page.

Refunds & Cooling-off

10-day money-back guarantee (excl. deposit) for enrolments made with an Ulleo Course Advisor.
Partner enrolments (TCA, OCA, Community Colleges) may have different cooling-off policies

Accreditation & Certificate

Endorsed by the Interior Design Association of Australia (IDA)
Certificate of Completion + Digital Badge (verified by Credly)