Hey! love your podcast and just started listening in recently. I came across this video and believe there is a big misconception of what an interior designer does based on practice and area of study. I am an Interior Designer that works in a commercial Interior Architecture field for all my career, so I am not aware of what it may be like for an interior designer to work on residential projects. I do appreciate you noting that commercial and residential work being different, however, When completing my education and certification, a lot of the items listed for the interior architect are also under the knowledge and practice needed as an interior designer. There is a current issue right now with interior design titles and practice acts on a state by state basis in the U.S. where a decorator can go underneath the title of an interior designer without the certification or education. There is nothing wrong with being a decorator as it does have its place in the design field, but without the clear title separation from interior decorating and interior design, interior designers lose there respect in knowledge of more than only understanding finishes fixtures and equipment. The best description that I have heard for interior design is that it is the branch between interior decorating and Interior architecture, but it specifically excludes the responsibilities for Architectural and engineering work specified by the AHJ and altering or affecting the structural load baring system of a building. I do believe there is a line between each profession and would really love to see a follow up video with a guess speaker, if you have not had one already, that has gone through the certification and education for interior design for an open discussion in this field :) if you have can you send me the link so I can watch it? Above all else, I fully agree that clients should ask questions and understand exactly who they are hiring based on the skill, service, and competency of the service provider.
I think there is a misunderstanding of what interior design is here and the discussion maybe a little misleading. For instance cabinets are not permanent to the house, they are hung on the wall not too disimilar to mounting a tv or picture frame to a wall. I think there is a lot of overlap in the proffessions and to try and seperate them into discrete buckets is probably not the way to do it. Maybe a better approach is to explore the aspects that are common to the proffessions. Maybe even invite an interior designer. Otherwise interesting discussion. Also in other countries interior designer is a licensed and regulated proffession.
thx for the thoughtful note! You bring up a good point of everything depending on where a project is. Much of we have said is based on our experience and exposure which is heavily focused on California. Here, it is very commonly stated that cabinets are part of the 'interior architecture', which is to say that it is part of the archtiecture. Many interior designers definitely design/lead this portion of the home, however. Pretty much all the interior designers and architects we know refer to millwork as being part of the interior architecture scope, and not 'interior design' scope. I have to disagree that mounting a tv or a picture frame are significantly similar to millwork. Built in cabinetry require much more construction expertise and the documentation (drawing) also requires much much more expertise. So I, and many others in our region, would not place them in the same category of work. I agree that there are many overlaps and that all scopes should be thought hollistically and colalborative. Unfortunately, that is not what we see happening often. Which is a problem for clients who don't know the differences. We have had interior deisgners on the show. and will have more. stay tuned :) Licensing varies from one place to the next. In California, a person can become a 'certified interior designer'. However, anyone can practice interior deisgn and call themselves an interior designer, even if they haven't gone through the certification process. All that to say that it is confusing and probably more regulations need to be in place. And most importanly, clients should really make sure they understand who they are hiring, the skills they have, and the services they legimately offer, regardless of titles which are often misapropirated.
Hey! love your podcast and just started listening in recently. I came across this video and believe there is a big misconception of what an interior designer does based on practice and area of study. I am an Interior Designer that works in a commercial Interior Architecture field for all my career, so I am not aware of what it may be like for an interior designer to work on residential projects. I do appreciate you noting that commercial and residential work being different, however, When completing my education and certification, a lot of the items listed for the interior architect are also under the knowledge and practice needed as an interior designer. There is a current issue right now with interior design titles and practice acts on a state by state basis in the U.S. where a decorator can go underneath the title of an interior designer without the certification or education. There is nothing wrong with being a decorator as it does have its place in the design field, but without the clear title separation from interior decorating and interior design, interior designers lose there respect in knowledge of more than only understanding finishes fixtures and equipment.
The best description that I have heard for interior design is that it is the branch between interior decorating and Interior architecture, but it specifically excludes the responsibilities for Architectural and engineering work specified by the AHJ and altering or affecting the structural load baring system of a building.
I do believe there is a line between each profession and would really love to see a follow up video with a guess speaker, if you have not had one already, that has gone through the certification and education for interior design for an open discussion in this field :) if you have can you send me the link so I can watch it?
Above all else, I fully agree that clients should ask questions and understand exactly who they are hiring based on the skill, service, and competency of the service provider.
I think there is a misunderstanding of what interior design is here and the discussion maybe a little misleading. For instance cabinets are not permanent to the house, they are hung on the wall not too disimilar to mounting a tv or picture frame to a wall. I think there is a lot of overlap in the proffessions and to try and seperate them into discrete buckets is probably not the way to do it. Maybe a better approach is to explore the aspects that are common to the proffessions. Maybe even invite an interior designer. Otherwise interesting discussion. Also in other countries interior designer is a licensed and regulated proffession.
thx for the thoughtful note! You bring up a good point of everything depending on where a project is. Much of we have said is based on our experience and exposure which is heavily focused on California.
Here, it is very commonly stated that cabinets are part of the 'interior architecture', which is to say that it is part of the archtiecture. Many interior designers definitely design/lead this portion of the home, however. Pretty much all the interior designers and architects we know refer to millwork as being part of the interior architecture scope, and not 'interior design' scope.
I have to disagree that mounting a tv or a picture frame are significantly similar to millwork. Built in cabinetry require much more construction expertise and the documentation (drawing) also requires much much more expertise. So I, and many others in our region, would not place them in the same category of work.
I agree that there are many overlaps and that all scopes should be thought hollistically and colalborative. Unfortunately, that is not what we see happening often. Which is a problem for clients who don't know the differences.
We have had interior deisgners on the show. and will have more. stay tuned :)
Licensing varies from one place to the next. In California, a person can become a 'certified interior designer'. However, anyone can practice interior deisgn and call themselves an interior designer, even if they haven't gone through the certification process.
All that to say that it is confusing and probably more regulations need to be in place. And most importanly, clients should really make sure they understand who they are hiring, the skills they have, and the services they legimately offer, regardless of titles which are often misapropirated.