interior design value

you might continuously hear interior designers, interior design students, or anyone who explains interior design as a profession to "protect the health, safety and welfare of the public" where as interior decorators do not. but, what does this all mean? what else is there to it?

the difference between art and design, although related, is that art is an expression of one's self, for one's self, by one's self. design is a process and often mathematical formula, invention or innovation, that solves a problem at hand. with interior decorating, we can relate it to art - the person doing the job is having fun with it, the basics of specifications for walls, floors, and ceiling. this includes making things look pretty, but not necessarily functional. interior design is when a customer comes up to you and says, "i need an office. i have this space. i think i need 'this much' storage because i have 'these things', i need a 'desk', a 'chair', and it would be nice to be able to 'look out the window, because i like seeing whats going on'.

lets break this down.
here is the problem:
"these things" - for instance, files, books, papers, pencils, pens, markers, stapler, calendar, scissors, photos of the kids, more papers, more books, more files, computers, keyboards, extra electronics for backup, etc.
"this much" storage - amount of storage the client estimates is needed for "these things", maybe shown by pointing, indicating, and estimations with hand gestures or a small diagram on a piece of paper.
"desk","chair" - aka horizontal surface that allows work to be performed. aka a place to sit, comfortably, movable, stain resistant, but visually appealing.
"see whats going on" - a hierarchy, something of strong interest, a window would also be something to clear your mind to get rid of overstimulation from multiple stresses that are occurring, or to refocus from boredum. there are many factors to consider with this one.


here is the solution:
>survey of the space + research + knowledge = diagramming
>diagramming + more research + realized knowledge = ideation: forming a basic outline of points, lines, planes and volumes using place elements such as domains, centers, nodes, paths, arrival, through principles/ideas of inflection, repetition, and infraction, negative/positive volumes or voids, and finally using evaluation to check the fit and usability.
>ideation + more research + FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) = construction documents
>construction documents + construction = final space
>final space + site visitation = complete project, where users have the necessary horizontal surfaces, feeling of freedom, mobility, storage, comfortability and hopefully sustainability for the space. aka the answer.

of course there are other steps in between, but the formula changes with each project.
all of these contribute to the health safety and welfare of the person.

getting more into the fundamentals of what may make up the space, there are other things to consider. we all have an understanding that many places use drywall for the vertical surfaces. in a commercial space, we may need to layer the drywall and/or find fire-resistant applications to this drywall to prevent fires from happening or from spreading. we may need to find ceiling tiles, or whatever horizontal system above our heads, something that is fire resistant. but we also need to consider things we cannot necessarily determine unless specified by a knowledgeable professional of the particular product, such as VOCs - volatile organic compounds. these are known to cause health issues such as irritation, can cause depressents in the brain, and of course, cancer. it is found in paint, cleaning chemicals, cooking stoves, air fresheners, office equipment, etc (for a better understanding, see http://propex.com/C_f_env_voc.htm). we have to be careful even with simply paint, and just because they say "little to no VOCs" we have to look for other chemicals such a ammonia, which can have the same health effects. through education in interior design, we may not be a scientist, or know every hazardous chemical, but we learn many answers, and if we dont know them, we know where to find them. we have a community in which although may be competitive as with any, we all share ideas and collaborate on much of our work.


this just covers some of the value in interior design, what the professional (through education, practice, testing, and more education) can do for you.