When you're applying for a job or trying to find clients, the sooner you have a breathtaking portfolio, the better. Thankfully, interior design portfolio templates can save you an incredible amount of time and effort.
And good news! You’re just a scroll away from four stunning ones you can try right away for free.
Interior Design Portfolio Templates to Use Right Away
For each one, you'll find both a PDF and a portfolio website version. It's because when you build your portfolio with Archifolio, you can create both versions in one go. More on that later, but now without further ado, here are some amazing interior design portfolio templates:
Modular
Modular, a template by Archifolio
Archifolio's Modular template exported as a PDF
The modular template creates a great first impression. It's straightforward, tidy, and remarkable. The default color palette has a dark background for a sophisticated look, while the sans serif font makes it friendlier, creating an amazing balance.
Palazzo
Palazzo, an interior design portfolio template by Archifolio
Archifolio's Palazzo template exported as a PDF
The magic of the Palazzo template is its simplicity. The default site comes with an elegant golden color palette and a sophisticated font preset (but you can change these in the Design panel).
Museum
Museum, a template by Archifolio
Archifolio's Museum template exported as a PDF
If you'd like a truly modern portfolio, Museum is for you. The template itself has this elegant, dark background with an edgy font preset. This contemporary site may be just the perfect way to tell your story.
Haus
Haus, a template by Archifolio
This is the Haus template when exported as a PDF
This portfolio has perfect visual balance, without being symmetrical. It's a great choice to showcase bold ideas in a bold layout.
This template is currently in the works. Sign up to Archifolio to be the first to hear when it's out!Because you need different portfolio formats for different situations.
About These Templates
The true power of Archifolio’s templates lies in the format: you build a website, but when you’re ready, you can simply export it (or certain projects) as a PDF. This saves you an unbelievable amount of time and effort. Why?
The portfolio pyramid
PDF portfolios are still required in many job applications, however, sharing them is tricky. Employers hate downloading bulky files, and therefore, they often restrict the file size you may send them.
When you’re applying for a job, PDFs are suitable for one thing only: curated work samples. An interior design work sample is like a teaser trailer for your actual portfolio. It means showcasing just one to three projects, with a limited number of images carefully abiding by file size limitations, that can be as low as 5 MB.
The second level of the pyramid is for presentation portfolios. Think of them as slides of a presentation. It is reviewed when you’re at the interview (and sometimes after to refresh their memories). Therefore, the aim is to impress and highlight your relevant skills.
The master portfolio is what brings it all together. It’s your website that hosts all your projects. It’s perfect for neatly organizing your projects and keeping them all in one place. Plus, whenever you’re out networking, it will act as your business card and make you look extremely professional. If you’re a freelancer (or thinking about becoming one) your website will be the key to good clients and projects.
You can also use your interior design portfolio website as your application material as long as you tailor it to the position or firm at hand.
Archifolio allows you to do this without having to create a new portfolio for each application.
By using an Archifolio template you can effortlessly create a website and PDFs that are relevant and make you stand out from the crowd. You’ll also have all of your projects ready to showcase in seconds.
Types of portfolios
The Benefits of a Website
A portfolio – as a professional compilation of your work – is needed throughout your interior design career. You need one to get into a college or a course, land your first internship and jobs, and get clients if you want to do freelance work.
There are different types of interior design portfolios, but a portfolio website is the most practical and impressive option. Here’s why:
It’s easy to update
If you’ve ever created a portfolio, you know how fast they become outdated. You have a new project or learn a new skill and you want to include it right away. Luckily, with an Archifolio portfolio website, that will only take you minutes, if not seconds.
Plus, do you know the feeling when you send an email with your application and you find a typo just as you clicked “send”? No worries. You can edit your portfolio anytime you want, so even before your future employer sees it.
It looks and feels professional
With a professional portfolio builder tool, like Archifolio, you can have a short and memorable domain name and URL slug as well. Something like: yourname.com or surnameinteriors.com. However, if you opt for a PDF portfolio and upload it to a portfolio-hosting website, you may have to apply for a job with a link like this one:
http://www.freeportfoliohostingsite.com/asd4fjk242897dsferfadfjakafdajdifejrja68arerar5fserae6ffslkfg
It doesn’t look too professional, right?
Place your website link in your email signature, LinkedIn and other social media profiles, and your business card as well. It will look extremely professional.
You can place your portfolio link easily in your email signature or LinkedIn profile.
Pro tip: Place your website link in your email signature, LinkedIn and other social media profiles, and your business card as well. It will look extremely professional.
You can place your portfolio link easily in your email signature or LinkedIn profile.
It’s easy to share
Many email servers have a file size limit. This can be a huge disadvantage for those who’d like to send a good-quality PDF portfolio. However, a portfolio website will allow you to include high-quality images without having to worry about file size.
It’s easy to create
We saved the best for last: It’s super easy and convenient to create your own portfolio website thanks to Archifolio. With this tool, you can create a stunning website in a matter of minutes, without having to code or hire a web designer.
And you know what the best part is? You can try it out completely for free. Sign up and create your interior design portfolio quickly and easily.
Creating a Portfolio in Archifolio Step by Step
Creating an Archifolio site is a breeze. We’ll walk you through it in only 5 steps:
Step 1 - Sign up
Seems straightforward, doesn't it? However, we wanted to highlight this step to share what goes on in the background.
When you sign up to Archifolio, we ask you to select your profession and the goal of your portfolio.
We do so in order to set up a default starter site in the background that best suits your needs. Thus, you'll be greeted with a site that's the perfect starting ground for you to start designing. This will save you an incredible amount of time right off the bat.
Step 2 - Pick a template to start
In this step, you'll find the templates you saw above. You can work with them for completely free, but Archifolio's premium provides greater control in the customization phase.
As you're browsing through our interior design portfolio templates, pay attention to the "above-the-fold" section of your portfolio (the first thing someone sees when they visit your site). Choose one that you like the most. You can easily change up the rest of your portfolio's layout, colors, and fonts later on.
Step 3 – Fill it up with content
If you have everything set up, then your images and texts are next.
- Main page. Add a short introduction. You'll already find an example that can give you inspiration. If you'd like to make it more personal, add a professional profile picture. In the footer of your site, add your contact information, so your visitors have a convenient way of getting in touch.
- Project pages. Create a portfolio grid, a.k.a. a “table of contents” with thumbnails. On your project page add a title, some important information (budget, size, and type of project), and your images. As you're working on your project page, it will be a draft project. When you're ready with it, don't forget to publish it, so your visitors see it too!
- About page or Resume. Make it easy for the recruiters and include everything in one neat package. If you like it better, you may use your home page for a quick overview of your resume as well.
Step 4 - Customize your template
We're all about making portfolio creation effortless and blazing fast. Therefore, we introduced global styles. Forget going back to every single text box on your page to choose a different font or to change the font size. Instead, set it at a master level and enjoy the consistency on all your pages. It also allows you to play around with colors or fonts to find the combination that works best for your portfolio.
Step 5 - Share as a link or PDF
Once you're happy with your design, you have a couple of different options to share your portfolio.
By default, you have a free URL that you can share with whomever you'd like. You may also set the portfolio's privacy (you can e.g. password protect your portfolio).
Send your portfolio to a friend, family member, or colleague before you send it to any employer or client. Some typos only reveal themselves to a fresh set of eyes.
If you'd like it to be more professional, you can even buy your custom domain (think www.yourname.com), which will be easier to remember. And also, let's face it: it's so cool!
At this point, you may also export your site as a PDF. If you'd like to leave out certain projects, you can unpublish them to only export the relevant ones.
And there you have it: your impressive portfolio that's ready to get you hired.
Frequently asked questions about portfolios & templates
How long should an interior design portfolio be?
This depends on your seniority. As you advance in your career, you’ll have more and more projects to showcase. As a general rule of thumb, aim for a minimum of 5 projects and don’t include more than 10.
What should you do if you don’t have enough projects yet?
There are numerous ways to create more projects for your portfolio:
- Touch up old school projects to make them portfolio-material,
- Remodel a part of your own home,
- Offer your services to family and friends for free, and
- Create plans for random blueprints you can find online.
What to include in an interior design portfolio?
Your aim is to tell the story of your design. Therefore, you should include images that showcase your design process.
These can be:
- Basic information about the project (in bullet points),
- Early sketches,
- Client brief,
- Inspiration/Moodboards,
- Floor plans, furniture layouts, space planning,
- Wall elevations,
- Construction documentation,
- 3D renderings, and
- Photos of the end result.
Don’t include everything just because you worked on it. It’s a common mistake to present the project in the “perfect order” like it was meant to be. But no two projects are ever the same. Keep it real and include the steps that taught you something or that you’re most proud of.
As a student or fresh graduate, extracurricular work is also appreciated. Being enthusiastic about photography, furniture design, or any other creative field, is relevant to your interior design student portfolio.
What makes a good interior design portfolio template?
Here’s a handy little checklist to help you find a template that you’ll love:
- Customizable,
- Easy to use,
- Effortless to update,
- Has a good amount of whitespace,
- Is in line with your design aesthetic, and
- Has a good image-text ratio.
If you are looking for free templates that check all of these boxes, you could not be in better hands. Sign up to Archifolio and see it for yourself.
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Fanni Szalkai
Marketing Manager of Archifolio, Architecture Portfolio Expert & Tiny House Enthusiast 🏡
