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.