Furniture Design: Course Details, Eligibility, Syllabus, Career, Jobs & Top Recruiters

Furniture accentuates the ambience of any space, and it’s an accessory for the interiors of any establishment, Furniture Designing is a crafty and creative career option as, it requires one to implement his/her designing skills, engineering, art, and fashion (trends) at work. The furniture design course is intended to impart skills and techniques for developing and also innovating high-end household furniture, office/corporate furniture, and resort/hotel furniture.

As per a report by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) on “Furniture – Market and Opportunities”, domestic furniture is around 65% of the production value, whereas corporate/office furniture and hotel/resorts furniture are stated to be around 15% each and furniture parts are approximately 5%. The report also stated that according to a World Bank study, ‘the expected growth for the furniture industry is around 20% every year where a large share is expected to come from the rapidly growing consumer markets of Asia, implying the significant potential for growth in the Indian furniture sector.’

The furniture retail industry is one with unlimited opportunities for talented and creative minds. The industry has seen players like IKEA, Damro, Durian, etc. in the past taking over the market for their best quality products and services. These furniture retailers are popular worldwide for their USPs such as Ready to Assemble Furniture, user-friendly flat packing, a wide range of products, affordable prices, eco-friendly products, and recycling to make new products.

Furniture Designing is a subsidiary course to Interior designing, therefore, furniture decoration, conservation, research, and innovation are the alternate career options that can be pursued after completing this course if students are not keen on designing and developing high-end products. The course is briefly based on tools and techniques for hard material designing, therefore a person specializing in this field can pursue a career in research for the furniture industry to develop new styles, furniture modernization like 3-dimensional Furniture, space management, etc.

Eligibility Criteria for Furniture Design Course

An undergraduate course in furniture design course is open to all students who have passed their Senior Secondary or Grade 12^th examinations irrelevant to the stream of study i.e. Science/Commerce/Arts.  Furniture Design course at the graduation level. However, most popular Design colleges allow candidates to take part in their admission process only if they have completed their schooling from a recognized board. To pursue such a course at the postgraduate level, design graduates are preferred but aspirants from other courses/streams can also apply.

Entrance Exams for Furniture Design Course

Some of the common entrance exams for admission to Furniture Design courses are:

• National Institute of Fashion Technology Entrance Exam-NIFT
• National Institute of Design Entrance Exam-NID
• Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design-UCEED
• Pearl Academy Entrance Exam
• All India Entrance Examination for Design-AIEED
• Central Universities Common Entrance Test-CUET
• Symbiosis Entrance Exam for Design

Required Skills for Furniture Design Course

Furniture designing is directly involved with customer satisfaction, therefore, along with the basic skills such as creativity, product designing, and drawing skills, the person specializing in furniture design also need to have visualization, planning, and cognitive ability as well as product research and innovation skills to understand the needs and wants of the target market. With such skills, a furniture designer can bring a revolution for the demands of uptown as well as commercially.

Syllabus for Furniture Design

The syllabus for Furniture Design is designed to provide in-depth knowledge about the course to the students and prepare them for the industry. 

Job Profiles in Furniture Design Industry

The various profiles at which the students of Furniture Design students can work include:

Furniture and Crafts Designers – The creative side of furniture designers is at optimum when creating a product. As furniture designers, individuals are required to use their skills for designing hard material products for home furnishing, offices, and party lounges. The designers bring together tools & technology, CAD work, woodworking, sculptures, drawings/artwork, and interior decorating to develop basic furnishing as well as high-end furniture and crafts.

Product Research and Innovator – As a product researchers and innovators, they are responsible for exploring, analyzing, and working on the redevelopment of high-end home furnishing, official furniture, etc. with scientific research and market trends.  

Interior Designer and Decorator – They are responsible for decorating interior spaces in homes and workplaces. They work with Interior designers' houses or even as freelance interior decorators. They make the interiors of offices, ready-to-occupy buildings, resorts, and other commercial establishments look vivacious.

Furniture conservator/restorer – The conservator or restorer of furniture is engaged in safeguarding antique/vintage furniture. They implement their updated knowledge, skills, and techniques for the restoration of furniture. Moreover, they raise awareness about antique furniture through public education in furniture conservation by sharing their knowledge.

Top Recruiters in Furniture Design Industry

Here is a list of some renowned recruiters at both national and international levels.