Who or what is an interior designer? In most areas of this country, any one can call themselves such. Some areas, especially states, require qualifications such as education, experience, testing, registration, licensing, et cetera to be an interior designer. Some states may require registration or licensing and no other requirements. Such is only the legal aspect of the situation.

Yet, in almost of the medias, we  are constantly targeted by department stores, furniture stores, retail shops, tile stores, carpet stores, window treatment stores, and many others with calling their employees interior designers, interior decorators, design consultants, et cetera as available for helping you with your home.  In most of these situations, almost all of these people are sales persons who may or may not have had any training in design. Usually, such training is geared to selling their own merchandise and is more marketing than designing.

Then, there are house wives, debutantes, rich people, educated people, sophisticated people, artistic people, those of high economic, social, celebrity, or political status, and many others who are extremely confident and arrogant and consider themselves qualified to perform interior design services. These people can convince others of that ability and get paid for doing it when their biggest and strongest qualifications is pure chutzpah.

You can name the names, play the games, advertise and market it until the cows come home, but do all of these things really make one an interior designer? As in much of life the ism is true here:  ” The proof of the pudding is in the eating. “.

The worth and merit of a real interior designer is what qualifications do you have to produce professional aesthetic, functional, and personal interior spaces for a client? What can you do for a client that manifests results?

The most basic one should be education. If you are going to call yourself a professional interior designer, you should have at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited interior design college level institution.

Underneath and in conjunction with the above there has to be pure, raw talent, intelligence, creativity, imagination, and an instinct for and to learn beauty, and an unquenchable desire to design.

When all of these talents and qualifications are combined with years of experience, the results can be outstanding and lasting.

Food for thought.

There has been a lot of media coverage about McMansions in various media in recent years.

Now there is coverage about functions and status in McMansions and other residences especially about living rooms and dining rooms.

McMansions are usually evaluated negatively for being big and phony and of which much is not being functional or used. Many do have a lot of aspects and characteristics that are not functional or of quality and are there for status which is of high importance to those who build and buy them.

McMansions and real mansions are two totally different entities.

There are surveys and other reports that life styles are less formal and more casual which is relevant to many home owners. Thus, according to this position, living rooms and dining rooms are not used and should not be and having such is a waste of space and is merely a status symbol.

To get to the basic roots of design and aesthetics,  anything that is not of quality or without function should not be manifest in any design composition including houses.

If people want to build and buy big phony McMansions, such is their choice. We have the right in this country to do such.

If people want to have an informal and casual life style and not have living rooms or dining rooms, such is their choice.

If people want to have living and dining rooms which fit in with their life stye, such is their choice.

Designs conceived and marketed to mass consumers do not determine what is good for everyone. One size does not fit all.

All of which is an individual choice. If you want good design in your residence, go with the best quality and functional designs for your life style. Don’t be taken in or influenced by trends or marketing. Good design will give you lasting results which are up and above status or trends. It is real. Superior quality does not need to show off status. It is inherent.

If, after all is said and done, you still have a need to show off with status, get psychotherapy.

Food for thought.

Michaelangelo is one of the most outstanding artists who ever lived in many of the arts.. His works for hundreds of years and through our present time have been seen, admired, and appreciated by millions of peoples from around the world.

His conception and execution of beauty goes up and above that of genius to a level we can only admire with awe.

From where did it all come? What was the source of his talent?

He could conceive the completed aesthetics and only had to execute it which, of course, took time and talent.

He was aware that those of us who live on this planet and see beauty can experience the celestial perception from which all beauty comes.

That of which we are aware is but a hint of what can be.

To experience, appreciate, and enjoy the beauty of our living spaces we have to perceive the beauty that is there and manifest it to our own level of understanding. This result takes the expenditure of many different resources.

As you go about your day-to-day living in interior spaces how aware are you of the beauty therein? How does it affect your experience of life in a positive manner? Would you like to stay where you are or move up to a higher level of beauty and the joy of living?

There is no limit as to what we can experience in aesthetics during our lives. Creativity, imagination, intelligence, new resources, and the advancements of civilizations present unlimited opportunities.

Who are you, where are you, and where do you want to be for the beauty in your life?

Food for thought.

All types of interior designs for residences from many different income levels from all over the world that are published and shown by various medias come across my desk.

Interior refers to not outside space. Design refers to creation, planning, imagination, and putting together an aesthetic whole.

Some people don’t get the meaning of these two words. One of the most popular is that interior design is selling and the higher the quantity of high priced items sold the more profit they make and the better is the design.

Another is ideas which are advertised and promoted as the basis of interior design as if interior design was an Easter basket and the more ideas in it the better is the design.

There are many others such as ego, ignorance, control, newness, fashion, trends, conformity,and etiquette.

In the highest economic levels of residential interiors shown in these medias there is a strong tendency to have celebrity and status and the best residential interior design as all being the same.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Being owned and/or lived in by a celebrity does not make that residential interior good design. Designing, selling, endorsing, or use by a celebrity does not make anything good. As being a celebrity does not automatically make one have good health, have high ethical and mortal standards, scruples, or make them a good or pleasant person, their residential environment is not automatically good because they are a celebrity.

The same is true of status. Status and good design are two totally different evaluations, aspects, elements, characteristic, and traits than interior design. It matters not who lives there, how old it is, how much it cost, how much it is worth on the open market, it’s historical value, how  rare it is, who slept there, it’s zip code, a political office or affiliation, ancestry, how unique it is, or any other thing. All of these descriptions do not automatically make such interiors manifest good design.

Good interior design is the result of intelligent and quality use of the elements of design, creativity, and imagination to make a complete whole for an interior space that is aesthetically pleasing, functional for the purposes it is to be used, and reflects the personality and the lifestyle of it’s users.

All of the other aspects projected on an interior space are not a factor in it’s design.

Again, looking at some of the highest economic levels ( millions of dollars ) of some of these published residential interiors, forget the celebrity and status and look at what’s left. Often, you will see lots of expensive, high quality furnishings and art works, but nothing is coordinated into a whole composition. It’s a group of things in a space. Some look like a furniture showroom. It’s not put together, but is a collection of diverse elements. There is an old ism which would be appropriate here: “With out a dressing,  a salad is just bowl of wet vegetables.”

The next time you come across a celebrity or status residential interior, forget the status and celebrity and look objectively at the design. What do you see?

Food for thought.

  What comes into your mind when you see or hear the word “classic”? We have classic golf tournaments. Classic cars. Classical music. Classical literature. Classical architecture and design, et cetera. You often hear the expression: “It’s a classic.” While there are many opinions on almost all areas of knowledge, most people will agree on what is a classic.

Webster’s dictionary’s definitions of the word classic includes many references to the ancient Greco-Roman period of history when it was at it’s highest level in architecture and the arts and has served as a standard of excellence since that time. There are many other aspects of that time in history which serve as examples and standards and have had their influence over the ages.

Such is not the full use of the definition of the word. As used for my purposes, the word classic can be applied to that which is the best and highest level of what it represents. It manifest all of the traits and characteristics of it’s time and place in the annuals of history. It needs to have nothing added and nothing taken away. While it is of a certain period of history, it does not become dated. It is timeless because of the quality of it’s design.

These traits and characteristics can be, I think, applied to all times and things.

There are usually classic examples of almost all periods of history since that time, but they have not been as important nor as influential as that of the Greco-Roman era.

All of which is well and good. The problem with the classics for houses and interior design is that they are treated as if they represent the time in which they are built. The current time is not the Greco-Roman era. The present time is the present time. Over the centuries, millions of copies and reproductions of Greco-Roman designs have been made. Such has become a status symbol of the highest nature. From the mass produced ticky-tacky developments to multi-millions dollars single projects, Greco-Roman styles have influenced residential architectural and interiors design. For all of their quality of construction, location, size, skills of workmen, imports, and cost of materials, and financial value, these results are still reproductions.

It’s what many people like, want, and what sells. And status and selling becomes the most important factors.

The same situation applies to interior design and furnishing of many residences as well. More people will go to the past than to the present or the future for their residential designs and furnishings choices.  Again, more reproductions and no advancement of civilization.

With all of the education, knowledge, experience, intelligence, imagination, tools, resources, and creativity available in today’s world, many people still go back to previous eras. When such is done, civilization is not advanced. It goes backward. 

Is it not of merit that the advancement of civilization go forward rather than backward?

Why does such happen? Is it because we like that with which we are familiar. We are afraid of the unknown. Status is more important than the advancement of civilization. Our emotions over rule our intellect in such choices. Maybe, we are unfamiliar with the options, don’t do the research,  or may be,  we just don’t want to put forth the effort or care.

Because something is old (design ), does not necessarily make it good (design).

Food for thought.

I asked a friend how he liked his newly purchased new car. He replied: ” I didn’t purchase a new car. I bought a computer system with a car attached.”

Much of such is beginning to be true for new houses and is a movement that is ever expanding, becoming more technical, and will continue well into the future.

A central control computerized system is now a sought and desirable feature for many new home buyers. Some home builders are meeting this situation with information, options, and demonstrations. Such is considered a distinguishing feature for an aware, progressive, proactive home builder orientating itself to every day life in the 21st century. Other non-such home building contractors may well be left behind.

Currently, such technology is more advanced and readily available for light control, entertainment, heating, cooling, air circulation, appliances, security, and window treatments. More options will become available and standard as improvements, new inventions, and discoveries are made.  Houses with such ” brains ” will become a day-to-day familiarity as computers and cell phones are now used.

Such is all will and good and making progress. What we need to think about is how much do we want our residential environment to be controlled by a computer, Do we want to have to change these computer network systems for different schedules, moods, and activities? How much control over our personal behavior and environment do we as human beings want a non-human thing to have?  How much such control is fun, practical, effective, economical, and comfortable?

And how much control is too much?

I recently watched a video of an owner showing off his newly purchased smart mansion and how everything was programed to operate on a set schedule. Once, his visiting brother was taking a shower when it was time for  the bathroom windows to be uncovered and opened which was done leaving his brother in a natural state being exposed to all of the people on the terrace and surrounding garden. Alas,  the unexpected joys of a smart house.

Food for thought.

  That which we call taste is what you like. It is what works for you. It is the choices that you make to satisfy your needs, emotions, intellect, educational level, and what fits you inside. It is like your personality. It’s you.

The existence of taste does not depend upon it’s quality for it’s existence.

Interior design taste is like water. It always finds and remains at it’s own level. It cannot go where it is not true to it’s being self.

Who determines what is ” good taste ” ? How much is design standards, laws of physics, and aesthetic principles, and how much is personal knowledge and preference? What are the factors being used?

How much of ” in good taste ” is evaluated using the traits and characteristics of aesthetics and how much is based on snobbery which is usually of an economic and social status nature?

It is not possible for a person to have no taste. Such a person would not exist. One can have good taste or bad taste or any degree in between, but it is not possible for one to have no taste.

Is there any thing such as good taste for all humanity or it it determined by individual cultures?

Economic value, social status, intelligence level, education, political affiliation, address, race, job, religion, and other factors may be a factor in determining one’s taste, but none of these in and of it’s self makes it.

Good taste cannot be inherited, bred, bought, given,  or assigned. It must be learned which can be accomplished by many methods.

Good taste is like good cooking. It makes the whole experience better.

Is good taste a hallmark of an advanced civilization?

How well do you know your own taste and how important is such to you?

Food for thought.

If there is any subject or aspect of interior design that you would like to appear in this blog, send an e-mail. Thanks.

Some where along the way, many people have formed the position that aesthetic design ability is related to one’s genitals and the activity there of.

Once, when I asked a client what was his favorite color, his wife immediately replied: “Well, I pick out his ties.”  Another client took a very strong position on an aesthetic situation because that is what his wife said when he asked her on the way out the door on his way to work that morning. And there is that most often used cliche related to all  residential aesthetics: “Oh, My wife does all that.”.

Men are not an element in the situation and their preferences are not to be considered because men are not recognized as having that ability.

Since when does a marriage license give a woman aesthetic design ability?

Being born with female genitalia does not automatically bestow aesthetic design ability. Both male and female human beings have or not have that ability. There are members of both sexes who have aesthetic design talent and who lack that talent.

And there is that cliche made by women when designing, planning, and ordering decisions arise: “A man doesn’t like to wait.” as if design decisions are to be made immediately available because of one’s genitals. Both sexes are patient or not or any degree in between and such behavior is from their personality and not from their genitals.

Also, there is a movement that gets bigger each year that all male homosexuals have “fabulous” taste and unlimited design ability of which non-homosexual people are not capable and that they know everything positive, good, and desirable about interior design, fashion, entertaining, etiquette, “good taste”, and all of the beautiful and gracious elements of living.

We have all kinds of media and publicity activities which promote these positions and cliches.

Again, nothing could be further from the truth. One’s sexual orientation and the activity of one’s genitals does not give aesthetic ability or mental ability in any field or profession.

Artistic, design, and aesthetic ability is a mental capacity as are all other intellectual and related talents. One’s sex and the activity there of do not manifest mental capabilities.

Stop playing the games, making the jokes, and stop manifesting such thoughts about such misinformation and try to deal logically and intelligently with reality and not follow such popular media trends and expressed opinions. (Are you watching too much television?)

On the bright side, some movements are taking place which are improving the situations.

Food for thought.

It has been my experience in listening to people and observing advertising medias over the years that much of the population is of the position that interior design means buying new furniture. All types of businesses who sell home furnishing items – furniture stores, department stores, floor coverings stores, drapery workrooms, paint stores, et cetera – advertise their design consultants, decorators, designers, experts, et cetera who really only sell their one type of merchandise.

There are many people who call themselves interior designers who brag not of what they have produced that is beautiful, but what and how much they have sold. Their mark of success is not professional aesthetics but dollars sold.

In a manner of speaking, it’s like saying buying food from a grocery store is the same as being served a delicious dinner in a fine restaurant.

Interior designing is way more than a financial transaction of merchandising items for a house. While there are some element items that are bought and sold in designing an interior, they are merely the ingredients for the recipe and not the served courses from the menu.

Interior designing takes talent, education, experience, imagination, creativity, thought, planning, and the coordination of many trades, businesses, and industries to produce a professionally design interior that manifest  function, aesthetics, and personality ambiance. Selling items of home furnishing is not in that league and does not cut it or produce those results.

Most of the public population is ignorant of this reality which is exploited by advertisements and sales people.

Food for thought.

“I don’t know anything about art, but I know what I like”. People who makes such a statement are usually very enthusiastically responsive is stating their position. How many time have you heard this cliche? What does it mean to know what one likes about art ( or anything else ) ?  If you like something, it is because it satisfies you, it gives you pleasure, and it is comfortable.

There are myriads of reasons why we like something from our current environment, our upbringing, and going back all the way to our DNA. What we like fits us like a comfortable shoe.

But shoes wear out after a period of use and we have to buy new ones. The same can be said for what we like or our taste (which is the same thing ) . Explore, experiment, go in a different direction. Shake things up. Life is constantly changing and evolving. Live in the present.

In farming, you rotate where you plant crops. Planting the same thing in the same field year after year gets soil and plants out of balance and produces poor results. Plants need cross pollination to grow. The same can be said for our tastes.

Choosing such a path creates a lively, nurturing, significant, and fulfilling lifestyle. Life is expressed. Not merely existed.

It is of merit to grow, expand, improve, and seek a higher level of expression. Raise your bar! Get out of your rut.

These changes should affect us intellectually, emotionally, psychologically, and physically in a very positive manner. If it doesn’t do that, you’ve missed the boat.

Live it, enjoy it, appreciate it, and never use it to snob, lecture, or make others uncomfortable.

Remember. You are your own unique personality. Respect the pollination of life.

Food for thought.