High Hopes

I have always been someone who questions the media and its intent. You cannot let the media dictate your life. Interior Design is a clear example in all of this. I have a right, as a DESIGNER in the building industry, to become a licensed and give myself that title through education, experience, and examination. This title is what gives me the right as a DESIGNER to sign and seal my own construction documents. There is a large gray area over the digression of designer and decorator, and I know that I have to make sure that I do something about this situation. I hope to make some kind of difference in the next five years, but if it takes longer I will not stop. I’ve always known that I needed to be in an industry that helps the public, and I understand that interior design does such. For years architects have been implementing code into buildings. I do that, but I also research on a lot more things that affect the life quality of humans in interior spaces. Registered Interior Designers understand that our industry is growing in fabrication constantly, that new materials can be used for different applications and how those applications affect the public. We also research on psychological concepts and solve them through design in interior spaces. We are here to help, not harm, but not everyone thinks of us as professionals. They believe we are merely an occupation. Have you ever been in a situation where you have complete intent to help society, but they wouldn't let you? I have that situation and I feel as though not many do.

This Is Not a "Do It Yourself" Kind of Thing

I won't lie, I grew up watching HGTV, but I always understood that the building industry never had an easy job. I just wish more understood that what I do can't happen overnight, and I will explain why. The world has placed a stamp on the profession "interior design" that it’s something anyone can do. The problem being is that residential and commercial interior design is much different. Residential design has the clientele of an average family, probably four to six people it must constantly accommodate, maybe a few more or less depending on the circumstance. A commercial space on the other hand is a much different concept. In commercial design one has to think about every single person that will accommodate that space over time. We also constantly think about the state of all materials over time and make evaluations based on certain factors to see its worth for an entire life cycle. The ideas of sustainability are kept in mind, implementing solutions such as water saving plumbing fixtures and light harvesting, and we even draw up construction documents that are signed and sealed by me as a designer. This is just scraping the surface of all the ideas and concepts and solutions that go into commercial interior design.  The building industry is nothing but regulations and requirements, and this is why I am different than the “designers” found on HGTV and other “Do It Yourself” programs. I, one day, will become licensed. I will have the education, experience, and examination to make sure that I am successful in my industry. I will make sure that I take my profession serious, to make a space as efficient as possible on more than one level. All of my spaces will be efficient in human health, safety, and energy conservation. All of my designs and construction documents will be done so that no one should question my integrity as a designer.

Fighting The Good Fight

On August 4th, 2011 we held a regulation celebration hosted by ASID (American Society of Interior Design), IIDA (International Interior Design Association), and IDAF (Interior Design Association Foundation). It was held at The Art Institute of Tampa, and was one of the most exciting business events I have ever attended. This event was able to occur since the Florida House bill 5005 did not pass after storming its way to the senate. I was so thrown away by the amount of people that arrived to the event, and at one point, being president of The Design Alliance, had to speak in front of everyone there. Intimidating, is all I can say about that experience. There were at least 200 people who attended. Students from three different schools, four Senators, and one House of Representatives were amongst warm my heart, and to know that a community of designers can come together for a common cause is breath taking. We are not the “occupation” so many others want us to be, or believe that’s what we are. I feel as though we are a family in some way, and that we see and understand the need for our career choice to be a profession. To know that each designer in that location had the right to sign and seal construction documents is such an amazing thing, and If you think about the situation logically, almost every other profession in the building industry has to have a license in order to do what they do and have their own company and firm. We have the right to a profession just as much as anyone else in the building industry. As each senator and representative took the stage to talk I felt more and more comfortable that the public is becoming aware of what we do.  Events like this make me have so much confidence for when January arrives and they try to deregulate our profession again. I cannot and will not back down; I will let the public know who we are and who I am. Together I know that we will fight the good fight.

Ignorance Isn't Bliss

It seems as though people tend to steer from the truth in order to help themselves. I have never been one to do this, but there are many within the interior design industry that believes our profession is merely an occupation. Why? I ask myself. Why would you want to degrade an idea that is as invigorating as interior design? We protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public, a public that utilize buildings every day. To think that we are trying to keep our profession regulated for self-indulgence is beyond anything that I can comprehend. As a student, I have realized the hours of research and preparation that must be completed before any conceptual design occurs. As a person I have realized that not just anybody should design contract spaces. The public is unaware, and being a student I have seen that we need to educate the public. Opinion is not the case when it comes to the definition of what interior design is. Fact is the clear solution. 

When speaking about the health, safety, and welfare of the public, sustainability is a key idea that supports this concept. By utilizing sustainable concepts we are seeking materials that cause less waste and pollution in society. Designers are even recycling products from its previous space into new ones in order to create less waste.  According to Merriam Webster dictionary, sustainable is defined as “of, relating to or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.” Building constructions contribute to a large sum of waste within our society, and as a whole we must understand that in due time we need to remove our carbon foot print. Our society also consumes more energy and clean water than we actually are capable of producing. Through the use of motion sensors in spaces and implementing water saving faucets we can lower costs of electric and water bills for businesses and allow them to create a larger profit. 

Sustainability is the idea of thinking forward, and allowing this earth to be usable years from now. It is the idea of creating less waste and more innovative ideas that seek out efficiency and productivity within a space. These concepts should be implemented into every design on a daily basis, and anyone who calls themselves an “interior designer” but does not agree with the statements above should stop labeling themselves that right away. I don’t say this to be rude, I say this to let the people know that the hours of research that I conduct on sustainability is not a joke. I don’t decorate. I design. I am a logical person, and I understand the need to make a space be less damaging to the environment and the humans that utilize the space.

I Know Therefore I Am

I have always been one to abide by my life motto, "I Know Therefore I Am", and because of this, learning has played a major part in my life. I love soaking in information about any given subject, but interior design in particular. In my opinion, to have knowledge about variables that constitute to a well designed interior should be the number one goal in any interior designer’s life. It should be their passion to protect the greater good. The argument that always surfaces when talking about interior design regards the question “does interior design protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public?” In the end, precautionary design is the obvious solution and should always be taken into account. This website will discuss the reasons why interior designers should be considered a profession in the building industry, and will explain the hours of preemptive research that designers take into account before any conceptual ideas are formulated to mold and shape an interior.