Interior Design Is Serious Business

Television networks like HGTV help spread awareness about the Interior Design profession, but at times they create misperceptions about what it means to be a Designer rather than a decorator.

Like Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors, we are also regulated by the state.  This regulation legally establishes the demarcation between decorators and Certified Interior Designers, and is an extremely important certification that keeps the Health, Safety, and Welfare of the public intact. In order to be certified, an Interior Designer must take the grueling NCIDQ exam.  This exam ensures we are experts in building codes, ADA requirements, space planning, and construction processes.

NCIDQ describes the difference between Interior Design and decoration like this, “Interior Design is the art and science of understanding people’s behavior to create functional spaces within a building. Decoration is the furnishing or adorning of a space with fashionable or beautiful things. In short, Interior Designers may decorate, but decorators do not design.”

We do select furniture, colors, and textiles, but as Designers we are trained to create functional and meaningful spaces that meet building codes, regulations, and American’s with Disabilities Act requirements.  Interior Designers consider things like end-user’s desires, cognitive ergonomics, flammability ratings, HVAC layouts, as well as plumbing and electrical schematics. Designers are involved from start to finish on projects and often work alongside Architects and Engineers to ensure spaces are functional, comfortable, aesthetically pleasing, and safe.

When people understand what we do, it protects the value of our profession and promotes the importance of Interior Design. Help spread the word on Why Interior Design Matters!