What is Interior Design?
Interior Design is concerned with how we experience spaces — to live, work, rest, and play.
An Interior Designer is someone who enhances our experience of those spaces. The Interior Designer’s job is to listen to a client and makes a space healthier, more functional, and more aesthetically pleasing. That person plans, researches, and coordinates the enhancement, whether that is an existing space for renovation or a new space to be built.
In order to do this, the Interior Designer may need to move walls, plan for safety, accessibility, and sustainability. They need to have a solid understanding of construction, building practices, as well as spatial awareness, acoustics, materials, finishes, colour, compliance for approvals, and permits.
Working closely with a building designer or architect, the Interior Designer shares concepts through visualisations using computer-aided design (in 2D or 3D). They may also need to do design drawings (drafting) that may include floor plans, elevations, custom joinery, and other details.
Having a deep understanding of your needs helps dramatically in the building and renovating process. In some cases, for example, a client may suspect they need a large home extension, but may actually need only some revisions of the interior design in order to accommodate the practical spaces they are after. This can equate to saving huge costs. The building and interior designer will listen carefully to your desires and work out how to deliver within your budget.
An Interior Designer generally has a Bachelor’s degree or other tertiary qualification, or a Diploma in Interior Design.
Interior Designers can specialise in Residential or Commercial interiors, or Public spaces.
In NSW, you can undertake a course in Interior Design through a number of universities and private colleges, including:
and several others
What does an Interior Decorator Do?
An Interior Decorator is primarily concerned with aesthetics — the look and feel of a space, without changing that space. They don’t move walls or modify structures. They help determine the decorative elements of a space as it is.
That means the Interior Decorator is concerned with paint, wallpaper, textures, colours, and furniture. They may modify the furniture layout or replace furnishings.
Similar to an Interior Designer, interior decorators are generally people with a keen sense of colour, mood, and layout of a room.
The decorator may advise on artwork or styling.
Often, real estate agencies provide home or property styling (also known as ‘staging’) for inspections prior to a sale. While a decorator may strive to make a home reflect the people who live there, a home stylist for a property sale strives to depersonalise the space so a potential buyer can imagine themselves there more readily. They also help a property be attractive with contemporary furniture and artwork to extract a higher sale price.
Interior Decorators may have a Certificate or Diploma, but would not normally have higher qualifications.
The professionals at Design Plus Drafting are able to assist our clients with their residential building and interior design that will be functional and beautiful. We can also help design interiors for your retail and workspaces. Call us on 02 9565 2265.