Log Homes Journal

What types of professional interior designers are available?

Have you heard of Interior redecorators? These professional interior decorators transform your home using things you have accumulated over the years. The end result is a balanced, harmonious space that reflects the personality of the people who use it. Many interior designers have added this service to their repertoire. Alternate terms for professional interior designers specializing in interior redecorating are interior redesigners, interior arrangers, interior stylists, one day decorators, visual coordinators or interior refiners.

What is a Certified Interior Designer? (from B&P Code Section 5800,5538)

A Certified interior designer is a competent design professional who is qualified to design, prepare, and submit any type of nonstructural, non-seismic interior construction plans and specifications to local building departments. Certified interior designers have demonstrated through education, experience, and examination their knowledge of the Uniform Building Code as it relates to space planning, life safety, flammability, and disabled access code issues. Most interior designers have a minimum four-year education. Many have Master of Interior Design degrees or other additional education in architecture or interior design. Interior designers who have many years experience may not have a Bachelors in Interior Design, but usually are well educated and have many years of qualified experience. All qualified interior designers will indicate that they have passed the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Certification) examination and/or are registered/ certified/ licensed in their state.

How do Interior Decorators charge for their services?

Flat Design Fee: The client pays a flat fee for the professional interior designer’s services based on the design plan, time required, and scope of services.

Hourly Rate: The interior decorator bills a negotiated rate per hour.
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If you’ve ever spent time rearranging furniture in a room, browsing antique shops and second-hand stores in search of hip vintage furniture, or obsessing over accent walls and window treatments, you might want to consider joining the ranks of interior designers. By marrying your creativity with the right education, you can earn a comfortable living in a flexible career field.

As a career, interior design engages creative service professionals to plan and design spaces in public buildings and private homes. Interior designers work with clients and other design professionals (including architects) to create safe, functional, and attractive rooms. The job requires a keen sense for creative visualization, as well as solid aesthetic technique, customer service, and professional communication skills, which interior designers use to present design plans to clients. For any given job, interior designers make recommendations for materials to be used and must explain how different textures, colors, and lighting schemes combine and interact to create a pleasing design. Finally, interior designers must also understand technical requirements of a given space, including health and safety regulations, and building codes.

Interior Design Careers: A Flexible Living
Besides the ability to put your design skills to work, there are other benefits to working in interior design. One major benefit to an interior design career is flexibility. If you aspire to a stable, full-time position, several top-paying industries employ interior designers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics specialized design services employed 20,820 interior designers as of May 2007. Other top industries employing interior designers included architectural, engineering, and related services (with 9,680 interior design jobs in May 2007), and furniture retailers (with 5,770 jobs).  Read more... (534 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Interior design careers require not only a sense of design, but also technical aptitude and sophisticated communication skills. A bachelor’s degree and passing mandated government exams is just the beginning of this highly competitive – but rewarding and inspirational career.

Designing your life with a career in interior design can give you the lifetime reward of living with a job you love. Interior design careers are for the creative individual who also has the ability to manage the creativity logically and enjoys working with materials. To be a successful interior designer, you must also be able to communicate the creative and logical aspects of your design to clients.

An interior designer works for their client. The client will issue their requests, demands and specifications for the interior design. The interior designer will then take those specifications and create a design, using creativity and talent to create a design, and educational background and on-the-job experience to make the design a reality. Textiles and materials, form and function, safety and security are all areas of study that the interior designer has to master. Aesthetics must meet functionality and it starts with a degree.

Your Interior Design major will begin with the fundamentals. These courses will include learning about the basic principles, processes and elements of design, types of materials and furnishings, identification of fabrics and textiles, and utilization of space. From there you will move on to the physical properties of materials, composition, light, color, sketching and mechanical drafting. Later in your education, your studies will focus on blending the visual and the practical, then move to business practices, government regulations, environmental considerations, communication and building your portfolio. Safety courses will include fire regulations, building codes, ADA regulations, and space constraints.

Professional bathroom designers are masterful at merging both function and form to create breathtaking results. In this eight-part series which I call “Understanding Bathroom Design,” I draw on my experience working with some of London’s top bathroom designers to explain this exciting field. This second article reveals the secrets of bathroom colour schemes.

In crafting a new color scheme, most London Bathroom Design professionals start by pulling out their colour wheel. The wheel can help choose tuneful combinations of colours, regardless of whether the palette is subdued and relaxed or exciting and dynamic. For example, some larger London bathrooms might be great candidates for a high-contrast complimentary look. This will normally pull in two colours from opposite sides of the wheel, maybe combining a yellow base with navy trim for high impact. However, smaller London shower closets would not be compatible with this bathroom design scheme because it might be too overwhelming. In such cases, a monochromatic approach that focuses on a single colour but uses various hues for interest could be perfect. Imagine the same bathroom design as previously discussed, but with powder blue in place of the yellow … exactly the same dimensions and accessories, but an entirely transformed atmosphere. Perfect perhaps for a North London flat or a West London studio loft.

Sophisticated Londoners can be desperate for that spa sensation which is so popular these days. Bathroom designers can make that happen by using cool, restful colours that include blues and greens. These often combine fabulously with the cream and two-tone brushed metal fixtures that are commonly found in spas and salons.

For centuries, the fashionable ladies of London have used makeup to bring out the beauty of their features while also covering up the tiniest imperfections. Similarly, colour can bring a bathroom design to the next level – perhaps by showcasing interesting architraves, cornices or other features.  Read more... (398 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Design professionals are your resource to the latest trends, best products and ideas to help assist you in the best possible way to achieve your goals. The designer will do the footwork for you while providing the very best for your budget. They can save you hundreds of dollars on just one project by helping to prevent costly mistakes. The agreed upon fee can be by the hour or by the project depending on the client’s needs. Below I have outlined some tips for choosing a designer:

1. Interview several designers to find the best fit for your project.

2. A professional will be upfront about the fees and cost so there will be no hidden fees that will surprise you in the end. Ask questions!

3. Find a designer that fits your budget and project. Some professionals only deal with certain aspects of design and have a minimum charge. Interview over the phone first and get some pricing upfront.

4. Be sure to express your feelings to the designer and keep the lines of communication open.

5. This should be an enjoyable experience! If not, then choose another designer. Any recommendations you can get from other clients are always helpful.

6. A true professional will be able to buy at wholesale and save you money!

7. Get references! A professional will have references and photos that show projects that have been completed. Ask detailed questions about any concerns you may have about the projects completed. Actually check the references from the portfolio.

8. Address any concerns about the time that you have appropriated for the project, monies involved and the overall schedule that you must meet.

9. Discuss the quality you expect and what you hope to gain from this project.  Read more... (360 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)