Being an everyday citizen in America, I can understand how the public misidentifies the profession of interior design. Through the media outlets every aspect of interior design is misconstrued. In television, every show labeled “design” is more than likely strictly decorating. In our products, knock off exist making it harder to find our prices and materials creditable. Also, in magazines, there are certain publications that emphasize décor and how to bake cookies rather than the raw, real design aspects of the profession.
Television: So you sit down after a long day and you turn on HGTV. A show appears with the word “Design” in the title, and it sparks your interest. Watching further you realize they have a $2000 budget and two days to redecorate some ones living room.
HOW UNREALISTIC.
We complain that “people don’t take us seriously” and “No one really knows what interior design is” but in the end this is one of the main reasons. The public watches TV. Rarely would I see an everyday joe pick up a journal or read informative information on what designers really do. People think they know, so why look into it further.
Knock Off Products: The production of designer products at a cheaper rate. It would be hard to convince a potential client they need to buy a $4,000 chair when they could find a similar looking product for $700. I feel like this is a battle every industry, there’s a fake everything nowadays.
The only fight I have against this is if it’s a knock off product, it will act like a knock off product.
I feel if I have a client who’s invested in my time would look at this situation the same way:
If I walk into Nordstroms I’m not expecting to buy a knock off purse.
Knowing your client and knowing their boundaries and budgets is lucrative in this situation.
Magazines: Standing in the checkout line at the grocery store, I peer over to flip through some magazines and in the slot that says INTERIOR DESIGN sits an issue of “Better Homes and Gardens”.
HOW UNFORTUNATE.
I’m sure the magazine has a great intention and valuable information for decorators and home makers. I would assume that that magazine should be in the slot for DECORATE AND HOMEMAKE. If there was more affordable information in the common individuals reach, people could educate themselves without us shoving information down our throat.
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post because you bring up some great facts and examples. The public’s misidentification of the interior design profession has grown out of hand. The sources that are misleading the public to think that interior design and interior décor is the same thing should really take the time to educate themselves.
The fact is just how you stated “the public watches TV”, and if it is shown on TV as just making things look pretty, in a ridicules time frame with an even more ridicules budget then why would it not be true.
With that said, it has completely turned me off of wanting to do any residential design in fear of having to deal with that reality. It makes me wonder how many interior designers have had to go through having to explain to a future client that a full room make over like the ones seen on TV cannot be done in 24 to 48 hours with a one to two thousand dollar budget. And it makes me think of my mother experience when she decided it was time to remodel her master bath.
I also like that you mentioned “Better Homes and Gardens” just the title alone lets us as interior designs students know we really have no need to even open this magazine. However, to the public uneducated in what interior design really is, it is the go to reading material. Even my mother made this mistake when she wanted to renovate her bathroom. Sadly enough she was in for a wake-up call when the project ended up costing close to $8000.
It all makes me wonder
How did this happen? And why is this still continuing today?
And with all the misleading going on do you have any fears or worries when entering the design world?
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