interior decorating

Holly Brown our expert of the day, writes:

Interior designer or interior decorator.

What is the difference, for both professions you can go to school and earn some type of degree. Both provide decent paying jobs. They both also have a huge amount of creativity involved with them. So what is the difference?

Well an Interior decorator learns the following things.

Applying wallpaper,

painting walls and other surfaces,

choosing furniture and fittings,

Draft floor plans

Accessories.

Interior designers

Do all of the above and…

Design based on the environmental feel of the room

They can knock down walls.

They can design complete homes, up to a set number of feet.

They have a backround in architecture and know some engineering

They have knowledge of constructions codes.

Interior design in the US is not always regulated by the state, though many states do require a person calling themselves an Interior Designer to have schooling and go though other processes and test. Other states do not require anything and allow someone who has a knack for decorating to call themselves an Interior designer.

What are the problems with this. One could be you have an inexperienced person who has never taken classes or looked at a code book coming into your home or office and designing it. This could result in non-commercial grade items going into a building that is commercial. Such as a hotel getting fabric that is not commercial grade therefore instead of the hotel taking 3 hours to burn to the ground in a fire, it many only take one. Commercial grade fabrics and other items usually have a higher standard for fire safety.

There are some decorators who have been doing this for a while and they do know these codes and the differences in commercial and residential materials. Do your homework before you hire a designer if you live in an area that does not regulate them.

For more information on design visit my blog

ABC’s of Fine Design