Interior Design and Interior Decoration

If beautiful rooms are on your mind, then you are most probably looking for the right person to do the job! And chances are, this person will either be a Designer or a decorator. But, in your head, do they both sound the same? Well, people do tend to mix up both, even though they are different. Read on to know the difference between Interior Design and Interior Decoration before you make your call.

What is Interior Designing?

In simple words, Interior design is the art and science of making a space useful and beautiful. Thus, a designer has to consider many things before fixing a design for a given space:

• What the client wants the space to be;
• The intended work for the space;
• Required services such as electric/plumbing points;
• the surrounding spaces;
• work and traffic flow;
• light/sound adjustments;
• ease of carrying tasks;
• materials for the space and their properties;
• constructional changes;
• style of decoration;
• proportion of furniture,space and people;
• costing and budget;
• color preferences and schemes;
• standard codes and regulations…

.. and more. So approach a designer ideally when you are about to begin with planning your home. That way, you save a lot of time and money! Also, the designer can use your feed-backs to create just the right space for you. Basically with a designer, you can be laid back when it comes to managing everything from start to finish. Moreover, you can also observe designers specializing in any one branch. Some examples are

• Office designing
• Hospitality designing
• Color consultation
• Furniture designing
• Product Designing
• Set designing
• Soft furnishings expert
• Lighting expert
• Residential designing, etc.

What about interior decoration?

Now that you have an idea about designers, lets move on to interior decorators. So as the term suggests, this profession is more about decorating spaces according to client’s tastes and the decorator’s artistic skills. Here given below are a few of the things that a decorator does.

• Deciding furniture for a space
• Fixing color schemes for a space
• Buying soft furnishings (curtains,carpets etc)
• Purchasing art works
• Keeping check with the latest trends
• Selecting light fixtures
• Giving a makeover to a space, etc.

So basically, a decorator is essentially going to decorate the space. And he/she makes sure your space has that chic touch to it. Also, the decorator does not care about the building codes or standards unlike a designer. And when it comes to specializing, a decorator may be:

• a Floral arrangement expert
• an Event decorator
• an Art critic
• a Textile design expert
• an artist
• a furniture arrangement expert,etc.

Do you think you have an artistic sense? Also, do people appreciate your design style? Or are you frequently consulted in matters of furniture and interior arrangements? Then you can become a decorator for sure!

Well, their works do overlap! So what sets them apart from each other?

The most basic difference among these two is- qualification. So, a designer often has a professional degree or a diploma. Thus, there are certain guidelines in each area of design for them to follow. But a decorator can explore interior decoration as a hobby. And with time and experience, he/she can create a portfolio of his/her jobs.

In many places, designers need license to practice. That is not applied to decorating.

The approach to work also varies. A designer thinks well ahead in future while designing for the present. But a decorator focuses on what’s new and trending for a space.

A designer works with many people most of the times- architects, contractors, carpenters-to make the design come true-for the space owner. However, the space is as functional as beautiful it appears to be.

A decorator, on the other hand, is more into the looks and feel of a space. Also, he/she mostly works with retailers or sellers of interior products. Here, the aim is to create a unique aesthetic space that shows high design value. Also, he/she knows what’s new and trending and goes with what appeals to the eyes and senses. So, their space may have a piece quite high on design value but not much in comfort- if that is what the design demands for the space!

To round it up, both designers and decorators have their fair amount of works, at times overlapping; most of the times, independent of each other. It all depends on what you want to do- give a refreshing makeover to a space or put up an aesthetic space that serves you in the long term.

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