What it Takes to be an Interior Designer

It’s very easy to get the wrong impression about interior design. For most people, interior design conjures up ideas of light fittings and wallpaper selection, perhaps a passion for furniture design and layout. However, there is an awful lot more to it and the knowledge of an interior designer as a broad as it is deep.

Obviously there is the aesthetic element, but this is far more than just picking out wallpapers. Interior design is an art form all its own that reaches far beyond choosing furniture that doesn’t clash with the curtains. Most interior designers will have a strong knowledge of both art and design and use both to create coherent themes across and within rooms.

However, there is much more beyond the aesthetic, and that is what most people don’t understand about interior design. A good interior designer will understand how people live in their homes and how the way they behave in a space is influenced by how that space is set up.

A simple example is where the television is in relation to the sofa. This will dictate how easy it is to watch TV, and the easier it is, the more likely people are to spend more time staring at the box. On a deeper level, the more space there is in the room and the easier it is to move around it, the more relaxed people will tend to feel when in it.

Similarly, as any avid watcher of interior design programs on TV will tell you – the amount of natural light can have a dramatic difference on a person’s wellbeing. A good interior designer will adapt their ideas to how a person wants to live, whilst also being aware that how the room turns out will fundamentally affect how they end up behaving in it.

Such design often incorporates structural changes as much as layout and content, meaning that interior designers very often have a fair knowledge of architecture as well, particularly those with a sustainable bent who are very interested in how best to heat and power a home: these sorts of concerns very often centre around architectural elements of the building, as well as the materials that are used.

And of course, most interior designers are freelance, meaning that any successful designer will possess at least a modicum of business nous.

Far from the common conception that interior design is about curtains and sofas then, interior designers have to possess an incredible range of knowledge to be good at their job.

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To find out more about what an interior designer does, visit www.oliverheath.com

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