The world of interior design hardly seems like a recession-proof business. When money gets tight, luxury goods and services are the first to go. Faced with the current credit crunch and declining real estate values, many homeowners are reluctant to embark on big-budget redecoration projects. However, some enterprising interior decorators are using the economic down turn to reinvent themselves and their businesses – with surprisingly successful results.

The world of interior design may be fearless when it comes to creating trends, but it has always been a business with certain guidelines and traditions. Reduced revenues and canceled contracts have jolted this once staid profession and forced many designers to start to thinking and working outside the bench. And technology and social networking are the engine behind this turnaround.

One LA-based designer began offering a on-line, flat fee design service as an alternative to the traditional interior design package. She creates a full design plan complete with a list of service and material resources and is available for phone consultations. The result? An unqualified success. The internet has enabled her to reach a larger pool of clients, and serving as a consultant rather than a hands-on designer allows her to offer services at a much more competitive price point. Of course, when she first introduced her concept, her fellow designers were less than supportive. “Designers are a snobby group,” she said. “I got a lot of funny looks and catty comments behind my back. Now, I have designers telling me they wish they had thought of it first.”

Interior designers who are flexible and willing to accept a greater quantity of smaller jobs, rather than holding out for the big-ticket assignments, report solid business growth. The internet allows designers to connect with clients all across the country, and reports abound of very satisfied customers. Says one woman from a small town in the Midwest, with limited local interior design services, “It was like having a really great friend with fabulous style who was willing to share their thoughts and ideas about your space in great detail.”

Websites are just the beginning for these maverick designers – some are starting blogs, developing Facebook pages and are even using Twitter to reach an expanding universe of customers. So if you are a budding designer with a tech geek streak, take a look at the opportunities that are opening in this once exclusive field. Along with studying up on mid-century furnishings and the glories of English sideboards, you might want to include some computer-based design courses and communications. On line resources like Top-Collegescan help you locate programs that offer the kind of diverse training you’ll need to be a success in today’s interior decoration field.

Or as one designer put it, “I don’t care what business you’re in, everyone is suffering. And if you get creative, this recession can make you a millionaire.”