Thursday, 3 April 2008
Home Interior Design is not to be confused with Home Interior Decoration, as this tends to be only a skin deep treatment to give a style change or "make-over" to a property. Home or Domestic Interior Design is a much more fundamental approach to the way you live in a property and how a building can be made to work for the individuals needs.Interior Designers who specialize in Home Design can be thought of as Interior Architects, and their abilities should cover building and architectural work to a property included minor/major structural alterations and even building extensions etc. All the technical services that make up a building will be undertaken by the Designer; Electrics, Lighting, Plumbing, Heating and Ventilation. They will cover all the "decoration" elements, colours, finishes and furnishings, but this is not necessarily the starting point for a project, Kitchens, Bathrooms, Staircases etc are the core planning elements that can structurally and technically change a buildings layout.
Many Clients only have a very basic idea of what they wish from a project and it is the Designers role to gain information and drawer out of the Client the detail of their requirements which will form the project brief. This can be a very personal experience with the Designer asking questions on how you live now and changes you wish to make to your life style. Be as open as you can as this forms the bases for the starting point of any new design, remember, that the Designer is designing for you and not them selves, so they need to know how you tick!
For most Clients they really enjoy this consultation, as this may be the first time that they have truly thought about their life style and what they really need from the project, apart from a floor, walls and ceiling. A good Designer will have the talents of a "pick pocket", you will not know that so much information has been taken from you until you see the first concept design, and then you will realise that the smallest details have been included that reflects you and your life style.
Personal recommendations are always good, but remember, the Designer has designed for the person who gave you the recommendation, so even their project is not to your taste this does not necessarily mean that the Designer can not design to your taste. If they were satisfied that the Designer produced a solution that matched their brief, then this Designer would more than likely be able to satisfy your project requirements.
Home interior design websites are a good way of looking at a Designer's portfolio of work without making direct contact. Use the search engines and try and track Designers that are within the broad area to where you live. It is no good having a Designer from Scotland if you live in Kent and vice a verse!
Local Directories / Yellow Pages is a way of getting names of designers in your area, but try and find a web address to view their work before making contact. Be aware of companies that call them selves Interior Designers, but are really Home Furnishers and are only interested in selling you wallpaper and curtains from their shop. You want to find an organisation specialising in Home Interior Design.
Professional Bodies such as The Chartered Society of Designers have registers of designers in your area and can be contacted for a list. They also have a web site at you could visit. The Chartered Society of Designers is a body that vets individual designers to make sure they meet a set professional standard, it starts with a student quantification "Diploma Member" and then "Member" (MCSD), and the highest level is "Fellow" (FCSD) and you should look for these two qualifications from your Designer.
