Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Interior Design Profession

What Do Interior Designers Do?

Is Interior Design for You?

History

Sustainable Design

Professional Associations

Interior Design Registration and Licensing

Chapter 2: Educational Preparation

High School Preparation

Choosing an Educational Program

Four-Year Educational Preparation

The Importance of Internships

Two-Year Associate Degree

Postgraduate Education in Interior Design

NCIDQ Examination

Continuing Education

Chapter 3: Where the Jobs Are

Career Decisions

Independent Design Firms

Architectural Offices

Furniture Retailers

Office Furnishings Dealers

Interior Design on a Global Stage

Facility Planning and Design

Sole Practitioner Work Environments

Job-Seeking Tools

Chapter 4: Design Specialties

Residential Design

Aging in Place

Commercial

Sustainable Design

Corporate and Professional Offices

Hospitality

Entertainment and Recreation

Retail Facilities

Healthcare

Senior Living

Institutional

Restoration and Adaptive Use

Related Career Options

Chapter 5: The Design Process

Project Development

Programming

Schematic Design

Design Development

Contract Documents

Contract Administration

Project Management

Working Relationships

Chapter 6 Interior Design as a Business

Business Formations

Marketing Methods

Contracts

Interior Design Revenue

Legal Issues

Chapter 7: The Future

Interior Design Resources

CIDA-Accredited Interior Design Programs in the United States and Canada

Interior Design References

Interior Designers

Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2009 by Christine M. Piotrowski. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Piotrowski, Christine M., 1947-

Becoming an interior designer: a guide to careers in design / Christine Piotrowski.—2nd ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-11423-0 (pbk.)

1. Interior decoration—Vocational guidance. I. Title. NK2116.P56 2009

747.092—dc22

2008018564

DISCLAIMER

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and the author are not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

All photographs, documents, and forms are proprietary to the organization, design firm, designer, or author. None of the figures in this text may be reproduced without the expressed written permission of the appropriate copyright holder.

To Martha and Casmier, looking down from above.

With love, Christine

A truly committed decision is the force that changes your life.

ANONYMOUS

Preface

The profession of interior design has received a lot of media attention over the years. Network television has portrayed interior designers as characters in major shows and featured them as experts on cable's various home decorating programs. Movies have even included interior designers or decorators as part of the cast. You have no doubt looked at one or more of the magazines related to interior design on the newsstands. The media attention, of course, doesn't necessarily help someone learn all that is involved in pursuing this profession.

This book is about the profession of interior design and the professional interior designer. If you are a student in high school or a postsecondary student who is considering interior design as a career, this book helps you understand what the profession entails. Maybe you have lost interest in your current career and are looking for a way to express your creative side. This book can assist you in understanding how interior design may help you achieve that goal. It will not, however, explain how to establish a practice or actually teach you how to do interior design.

The interior design profession has two broad segments of specialization. Residential interior design, primarily the design of private residences, is the area most familiar to the public. Commercial interior design is the other large segment of the profession. This specialty involves the interior design of businesses such as offices, hotels, stores, restaurants—even airports, sports stadiums, and prisons. Within each of these broad areas, designers might focus on one or more subareas— condominiums and retail stores, for example.

The profession has changed significantly over the last 45 years or so. Here are just some of the ways in which it is different: building and safety codes are emphasized; sustainable design in both residential and commercial interior design has gained importance; the growing complexity of projects and the design process means interior designers must be better educated and trained; licensing and legal responsibilities focus added attention on project management and contract administration; and the aging population has brought an increased awareness of the design of spaces for seniors.

These challenges and others have brought about critical changes in the profession through greater educational preparation, increased technical skills, broader knowledge requirements, and the measurement of professional competency via testing. Thus, today's professional interior designer works in a profession raised to a higher level than that of the stereotypical decorator. Interior design in the 21st century is much more than selecting colors and arranging furniture.

Helping you understand this exciting creative profession and career is the purpose of this second edition. This award-winning book has been revised and updated to include new information on sustainable design, aging in place, and interior design on the global stage, as well as other topics and comments from dozens of additional practitioners at many levels in their career. Numerous new designer profiles with examples of their project work have been added throughout the book.

Additional highlights to the second edition begin in Chapter 1, which provides an overview of the profession of interior design with a brief look at its history and such considerations as licensing, and other general topics. A new section discusses the role of interior designers and poses the question “What do interior designers do?” to dozens of practitioners. Chapter 2 describes the educational requirements of interior designers. A section has been added concerning high school preparation to help younger potential practitioners understand what can be done at that level. Chapter 3 looks at the various environments in which interior designers work. For example, some designers work by themselves from home offices, while others work as team members in large design firms—and everything in between. Note that all the information on job seeking such as résumés and portfolios has been moved to this chapter. Chapter 4 offers insights into the opportunities for various specializations in the field through interviews with practitioners currently working in them. This chapter also includes additional information and comments from designers about the importance of sustainable design and design for seniors. Chapter 5 describes the activities that occur between the inception of a project and its completion. It also discusses working relationships with allied professionals and the project management process. Chapter 6 presents an overview of the business side of the profession. This chapter briefly discusses how interior designers find clients through marketing activities, the importance of contracts in defining proposed services, and how interior designers earn revenue. Chapter 7 is a compilation of comments from practitioners on what they feel is the future of the interior design profession.

Indeed, I think you will find what practitioners have to say interesting and exciting. Included are quotes and commentaries by nearly 100 professionals who are practicing interior design or have been involved in this exciting profession in other ways. Interior designers in many specialties and career stages have provided insights to help you discover what this profession is like. Their responses to questions and points of view comprise a special feature found within and at the end of each chapter. This feature is unique among career books and will help you understand what interior design is like from people doing professional work every day.

The initials that follow the names of many interior designers represent the appellations of professional organizations and are included because attaining professional association membership is an important milestone for professional interior designers, as it is with any design professional. The following list provides a key to identifying these organizations:

If an appellation begins with F, as in FASID, the member has earned a fellowship, which is the highest national honor of his or her association. Also note that some designers are required to place their state code before the CID or RID designations. An example is KYCID for Kentucky Certified Interior Designer.

Updated selected references in “Interior Design References” at the end of the book provide further reading on the topics covered in this book. “Interior Designers” in these back pages provides contact information for the various professional organizations and designers mentioned in the text.

I hope you will find this second edition of Becoming an Interior Designer a valuable source for learning about the exciting career of professional interior designer. This creative, multidisciplinary profession is a satisfying way to express your talent while providing functional and aesthetic solutions to a client's projects. Because the field offers so many avenues of work, you can find a niche that is stimulating and satisfying to you as it has been for the thousands who have come before you. These are exciting times for the interior design profession. I welcome you to it!

—Christine M. Piotrowski, FASID, IIDA

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the many interior designers, educators, and other design professionals who have contributed material to this book. Many of them I have known for many years. They graciously shared their insights, experiences, and passions about the profession as well as their project photos and drawings for this book. All these professionals are listed at the back of the book under “Interior Designers.”

I also want to thank several people at John Wiley & Sons for their assistance and guidance. Of course, special thanks go to my editor, John Czarnecki, for patiently seeing this book to completion. I want to acknowledge Raheli Millman and Sadie Abuhoff for their assistance on the second edition and Lauren Olesky for her assistance on the first. Lastly, I want to thank my long-time friend Amanda Miller for encouraging me to do this book in the first place.