What does an interior designer do?
/Over the last month I’ve had several people ask me what it is that I do. This has stemmed from two friends that have had a property stylist help them to get their home ready for sale. It has opened their eyes to the fact that people in our industry can help make their home feel more relaxed and appealing. But they have both asked what is it that I do and what is the difference between a stylist, interior decorator and an interior designer. So today I am going to try to clear this up in a very simple way as to what the differences are and what we can bring to the table.
DESIGN IDEAS
When I started to become interested in property renovation, flipping and building new I didn’t understand why a designer could be a good person to speak to as part of my building and decorating process, but now having studied interior design and decorating, let me share with you what we do and how we can help with your projects.
Firstly what is the difference between an interior designer, decorator and stylist. A lot of people think the terms ‘interior designer’, ‘interior decorator’ and ‘interior stylist’ are interchangeable names for exactly the same profession. This isn’t the case though, depending on what problem you have that you need help with, this will drive who you need to speak to.
I found this description of the different roles on build.com.au that I have added a little to that I thought I’d share with you as it explains the roles well.
What’s the difference between interior designers and interior decorators?
To set the record straight:
• An interior designer holds a tertiary qualification in this discipline (typically a degree or advanced diploma in interior design) and is concerned with every aspect of the way in which interior spaces are laid out, allocated and used.
• An interior decorator typically holds a qualification in interior decoration (normally a Certificate IV), and is concerned with dressing an interior with things like paint, furnishings, floor coverings, and fabrics for aesthetic purposes.
• An interior stylist typically also holds a qualification in interior decoration (normally a Certificate IV) or no qualification and just a passion for interiors. They are concerned with dressing an interior for sale or to update an existing room with temporary things like art, furnishings, floor coverings, and soft furnishings.
What is an interior designer?
There are a lot of different aspects to building design. It’s not uncommon for an architect or building designer to be tasked with designing every single part of a house, but in many cases specialist designers (interior designers, landscape designers and specialist lighting designers, for example) will be employed to design particular bits of a home.
In the case of interior designers, this work is often done on a standalone basis, usually to improve on existing buildings rather than as a part of the initial design process. Ultimately, an interior designer’s role is to create functional, safe, efficient, comfortable and beautiful interior spaces that are fit for their purpose.
As we've already mentioned, interior designers normally hold a bachelors degree or advanced diploma in interior design. Interior designers study the theory and practice of design in considerable detail - some of the things they learn about include:
• Lighting design
• Materials, finishes and colour
• Design theory and history
• Building systems and technologies
• Sustainable design/building practices
• Design for accessibility and utility
• Project management
• Relevant Australian Codes and Standards
As well as designing and decorating building interiors (something they also do), interior designers normally have a good working knowledge of construction practices and documentation requirements, and can work confidently with other designers and tradespeople to ensure that the interior spaces they design are appropriate and properly implemented.
What is an interior architect?
Just to add to the confusion, many designers also refer to themselves as 'interior architects'. Interior architects are normally either trained architects who choose to specialise exclusively on interior projects, or graduates of an 'interior architecture' degree like that offered by Monash University through its Faculty of Architecture.
What is an interior decorator?
While interior decorators’ study and work on many of the same things as interior designers, their job typically doesn’t involve moving walls, installing services or planning for things like safety and utility. This is really the main difference - interior decorators are exclusively concerned with decorating what’s already been built. Interior decorators are aesthetic specialists, and are likely to have diploma-level qualifications in their field.
What is an interior stylist?
It's a little murky, but 'interior stylist' is the generally accepted name for someone who does interior decoration without having any formal qualifications or education in this field. Interior stylists can be as talented, knowledgeable and professional as decorators, of course - but this is something you may need to judge based on their previous work and references.
Interior stylists are specialists at 'styling' interiors, and as such they're often employed by real estate agents to temporary style, furnish and decorate homes in preparation for their sale (this is called 'home staging'). Stylists may also specialise in styling and arranging interiors for magazine shoots.
I hope that has cleared up the difference between the different services we provide. But here is my two cents worth. Having an interior designer involved up front with a new build can help you put together a clear brief to an architect. Understanding the way in which you may want to utilise a room and what pieces of furniture you want in that room drives room sizes. One of the things I do as an Interior designer is understand cabinetry requirements, furniture placement and circulation spaces so that room dimensions are correct. You don’t want to end up in the situation where a room is too small for the way you wanted to live in it because you haven’t communicated that you wanted that large L shaped sofa or that built-in in piece of cabinetry.
Having interior designers, decorators or stylist involved in your project can be beneficial in lots of ways. Whether you have no idea where or how to begin to design and decorate your home, or whether you have a Pinterest page full of ideas but need help trying to piece those ideas together, or you simply haven’t the time to source your style and desires due to your busy day to day schedule, an interior designer can help. Toss aside the idea that we are just glorified cushions fluffers and décor shoppers. In reality, we can save you a great deal of time by knowing where to find your desires. We can save you money by avoiding costly mistakes and make savings though my trade contacts. We can also save you from the stress of countless questions and decisions that need to be made during a build or a decoration job by presenting a full concept and the items that meet that concept.
3 THINGS I’VE LOVED RECENTLY!
I had to go to Bunnings the other day to look for thermometers for my youngest sons science project, any excuse to go to Bunnings is taken up by me, love the place! When I’m at Bunnings I always check out the seasonal area and it was all about outdoor fire pits which I covered in my last newsletter, check out my blog about them. But I didn’t cover off wood storage and there are now some very beautiful storage solutions I found at Bunnings and elsewhere so here they are.
Love this for storing wood outside.
Scandia Round Wood Storage - 75cm (Black) Black
https://www.bunnings.com.au/scandia-round-wood-storage-75cm-black-black_p3171650
This one is a really great sculptural shape and comes in this lovely natural finish.
Scandia Beehive Log Storage - 850mm Corten Brown
https://www.bunnings.com.au/scandia-beehive-log-storage-850mm-corten-brown_p3171647
Scandia Cantilever Log Storage
I can’t find this one on the website of Bunnings so it might just be in particular store but this one would look great indoors as well as out.
PROJECT UPDATE
For those of you that have been following along with the design story of my new build home, I just want to share the next phase of where we are at and why having a interior designer involved upfront can help with your project planning.
Here is the ground floor of our new home. I do this drawing in a program called SketchUp which allows me to draw up plans to scale, load in all finishes and design all the cabinetry and fittings in 3D (I’ll show you this part next month). The benefit of doing this and utilising the help of a designer ensures that your room sizes are big or small enough. We were able to give our architect feedback on the size of the family room and add an extra half a meter into the back of the room so as to give us better circulation space around our L-shaped lounge.
In the first-floor area we had much debate around which rooms our boys wanted. Having the ability to move furniture around and play with layouts and sizes at this stage meant we were able to resolve who has which room and now I can customise their decorating detail to the room they have chosen.
Floor finishes have also been chosen and wiring considered as we are about to lay the ground floor slab and I need to have these decisions made so as to know if we wanted to include and floor boxes for power. I like to use these so that you don’t have cords from lamps going across to power points. They are hidden under the couches.
Must fly now as I need to get out to a fabric house to choose some curtain fabrics for a client. Just at the decorating stage of a renovation.
Take care
Jules xx