The world of interior design can seem quite intimidating, especially if you’ve not worked with an interior designer before. I hate that this industry can be so opaque so I really hope that this post demystifies it a bit for you and answers the question ‘what does an interior designer do?’.
WHAT’S THE POINT OF INTERIOR DESIGN?
In short, my role as an interior designer is to make people’s lives better by shaping the inside spaces they live and work in.
This might sound a bit lofty but to me if a design doesn’t do that then it’s failed. Good interior design should help you to live life the way you want and need to. This means considering the function of the space, the aesthetics (and by that I mean how it lands on all of your senses, not just your eyes), and how that room, home or workplace impacts your wellbeing and that of other people and the planet.
Interior designers can work on residential spaces, work places, hospitality environments, hospitals, schools and in fact any inside space that people are using. Most specialise in a particular environment: my experience extends to homes (residential) and work places.
HOW DO INTERIOR DESIGNERS WORK?
Again, this varies designer to designer as not everyone gets involved in all parts of a project. Our roles and responsibilities can include building a picture of what the client wants and needs; developing a design concept; creating room plans and layouts; specifying all the hard and soft materials, furnishings and furniture; liaising with the trades who are constructing the design; and overseeing its implementation.
I can help you with all of these elements, although I tend to be most involved with the first three of these areas – many of my clients are happy to implement the design themselves once I have provided them with a framework.
Let’s break down these areas a bit more.
UNDERSTANDING YOU AND YOUR HOME
I think the most important work of a designer comes at the very beginning of a project, when we’re in listening mode. When you become my client I need to get to know you and your home (or any other space you’re wanting to work on) really well.
As well as talking to you I give you a questionnaire to complete. I want to understand how you live, how you want to feel in your home, what’s working and what’s not, what you value and what your aesthetic preferences are; I also need to know your budget, your quality and sustainability aspirations, and I need to survey and measure your space.
That’s because we can’t do our job as interior designers if we get the brief wrong.
DEVELOPING A DESIGN CONCEPT
This is probably the stage that most people think of when they ask ‘what does an interior designer do?’ It’s fun and creative and exciting, but requires more skill than people realise.
When I create a mood board and concept I’m trying to distil every thing that I’ve learned about you and your space into some words and images that capture a feeling, a set of values, and a way of life. I’m taking all my knowledge of design principles and applying them to the conundrum that you’ve put in front of me.
I’ll be trying to resolve issues that are preventing your space from working for you, and to communicate a look and feel that moves you. I’ll consider colour, textures, light, airflow, form, acoustics and sometimes even scent. And I’ll be doing that by painting a big picture and illustrating what I mean with design details.
PLANNING A LAYOUT
In parallel with the design concept I’ll often be working on the layout of the space. Because while interior designers do want to create places that look good, they also need to feel good too. And that means making sure that you can use the space in the way that you want to, unencumbered by stuff.
A good layout minimises the awkward bits of the space, maximises its assets, and considers how you will move within it. This is also the stage at which I’ll give the most thought to lighting design, because once I’ve positioned furniture within the room I understand better how and where I need to light it.
I have design tools that I can use to convey this layout – sometimes I work in 2D, but if more detail is required then I can supply 3D plans, which can really help us both to visualise the space.
SPECIFYING FINISHES, FIXTURES, FURNITURE AND FURNISHINGS
It’s all very well having a top level plan but often what you as a client are looking for is a list of all the things you need for the room.
Sometimes this includes all of the hard, fixed items in a room such as flooring, taps, architectural lighting etc. Sometimes all you need is the moveable ‘loose’ items such as curtains, furniture and decorative lighting. Either way, I’ll be sweating the small stuff so that you don’t need to.
It’s a very time-consuming process that requires lots of attention to detail and an understanding of how each element will interact with another. If I’ve already drawn 3D visuals for you I may update them with these finishes at this point.
And if you need me to I can purchase these items on your behalf. If you do decide that you want to source all the items yourself, you can buy my sourcebook from me – part of my job as an interior designer is to know where to go to buy good quality items.
LIAISING WITH TRADESPEOPLE
You might be looking for recommendations of tradespeople who can carry out any building or decoration work that you need doing. Like other interior designers I do have a ‘black book’ of tradespeople that I know or have worked with and I can share their details so that you can approach them for a quote and check them out for yourself.
Once you’ve decided who you want to do the work, I can liaise with them on the details of implementing the design. That way if they have questions or issues that need addressing (there are still a surprising number of decisions that need to be made once the work is underway) I can support them in resolving these and highlighting any quality issues. This is when my communication and people skills come to the fore.
INSTALLING
Even once any building and decoration work has finished an interior designer’s work isn’t over. We will often be involved in unpacking and placing any ‘loose’ items so that the space looks and feels exactly as it should to realise the design. At this point I will often style the space and arrange a photo shoot so that I have a record of my work and of the finished design.
SO WHAT DOES AN INTERIOR DESIGNER DO?
If I’ve done a good job in this blog post you might be able to answer this question yourself now! An interior designer is a design professional who will balance function and aesthetics to create a space that improves the lives of the people using it.
In my own work as an interior designer I do my best to make the whole process of working with me as transparent and unintimidating as possible.
If you still have questions about what I do, please get in touch.