THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

INTERIOR DESIGNERS & INTERIOR DECORATORS

INTERIOR DESIGNERS

Do you know the fundamental differences between decorators and designers? Do you know what they earn? Or what their job descriptions are? Well we believe not many people do!

These days Interior Designers usually work in the commercial sector of the building industry. The biggest percentage of their work would be in office and shop fit out, and the rarer jobs would involve hotel refurbishment, clubs and night clubs, educational institutions and hospitals; and these positions are often held by Architectural firms.

Designers often work as an employee of a bigger team of designers, builders and architects. This is mainly because of the set up costs and expert professionals required for the various steps of design. They enter such a business at ground level and work their way up through the system and in the early days their job often consists of drafting and drawing in the office.

For this reason alone there is often a big drop out rate for people in this profession, especially enthusiastic young designers fresh from college full of ideas to implement. The lack of hands on experience is often the big deterrent.

Because of the responsibility that many designers now face with specifying and supplying construction materials and products; there have been calls for all Interior Designers to obtain building licences in order to be able to work in the industry. This is because their job has slowly crept into overlap with that of builders and architects and is only fair!


INTERIOR DECORATORS

Interior Decorators will find themselves after study consulting on an hourly basis, working for themselves and usually in the domestic industry or run decorating outlets that supply materials and products.

They often work alone or subcontract their work to those offering materials or products in the industry or to builders or other designers. Interior decorators can specialise in colour or furniture, period style or furnishings and window treatments.
They work as any other sub contractor in the building industry on an hourly basis which means that the amount of work and the hours they do are their choice and thus it is often an appealing position for women who want to work but still run a family.

The fundamental difference between the two professions put simply is; Interior Decorators complete the more visual and aesthetic aspects of interiors choosing colours, surfaces, furniture, furnishings and style; whereas Designers work with designing interior spaces and the construction of such spaces of which they then may select the same interior finishes.


Quote from my teacher from the "Australian Collage of Interior Décor."

http://www.corcollege.com.au/course/course.asp?CourseID=35