There are two questions that I am asked the most by aspiring Interior Designers.
The first one being “Is there a difference between Designers and Decorators?” The answer is yes.
Without getting into too much detail, it basically comes down to the level of training. For example, to become an Interior Designer where I studied at Parsons School of Design, I had to attend several architecture-related courses on top of the regular interior design ones, making the program more hardcore on a technical level — which is more info than you’d expect from a Decorator [for which you do not need to attend school]. So that pretty much covers that.
That’s certainly not to say that we don’t need both creative kinds on our design-thirsty planet. It’s also quite beneficial when Designers and Decorators collaborate on big projects, where several professionals are assigned different aspects and work together as a team. Networking and collaborating with Decorators is something that I do all of the time. After all, we’re all in it for the love of design and can definitely learn from one another.
The second most common question is: “What do you actually do as an Interior Designer?”, which is a pretty normal question if you’re not familiar with the field.
Many just assume that Interior Designers spend the entire day picking out fabric swatches and fluffing pillows. Can I tell you how happy I am that that’s definitely not the case? I would have been bored stiff by the end of my first day if it was all about pillows.
So when I came across the above article about five years ago, I immediately archived it and sent it out to everyone I knew. I love it because it gives you a real breakdown of what an Interior Designer does on a typical work day [and I use “typical” lightly, as really, there is nothing typical or predictable when it comes to a designer’s schedule]. Also, since I work a lot on TV shows as a Set Stylist or Art Director, my days are often longer and a little different than what’s described in this article, but it’s still quite relevant to the private interior design projects that I work on.
So if you or someone you know are considering a career in Interior Design, this may be a good article to bookmark for future reference. Thanx to you readers for your questions and interest. Hope this helps!
1 month ago