Value of Interior Design

Majority of people underestimate the role of an interior designer and label the professionals as "decorators". Although some of the roles overlap, there is a huge difference. Decorators will be seen spending their time looking at textiles, paint swatches, fabrics, and are mainly concerned with surface decoration. An interior designer, on the other hand, has a four-year degree from an accredited educational institution and practices a three-part process:

• Shaping the experience of interior space through the manipulation of spatial volume
• Drawing on aspects of environmental psychology and architecture
• Specializing in health, welfare and safety

Being an interior design student, I've quickly learned that designers do more work than people give them credit for. An interior designer's job is thought of as making a space appealing to the eye, which is true, but the functionality of the work is overlooked and romanticized. When designing, interior designers take several things into consideration, and just to name a small portion:

• Research and analysis of the client's goals and requirements
• Formulation of preliminary space plans and two and three dimensional design concept studies and sketches that integrate the client's program needs and are based on knowledge of the principles of interior design and theories of human behavior
• Preparation of construction documents, consisting of plans, elevations, details and specifications, to illustrate non-structural and/or non-seismic partition layouts; power and communications locations; reflected ceiling plans and lighting designs; materials and finishes; and furniture layouts
• Preparation of construction documents to adhere to regional building and fire codes, municipal codes, and any other jurisdictional statutes, regulations and guidelines applicable to the interior space
• Observation and reporting on the implementation of projects while in progress and upon completion, as a representative of and on behalf of the client; and conducting post-occupancy evaluation reports.