(Revised September 27, 2017)

Hello my name is Mike and I am an Interior Designer……………………….

Okay so don’t tell me you have not already arrived at some preconceived notion of who I am, what I do, and how I do it.  That is what this blog is about.

More specifically, this blog is not about me nor is it about pretty pictures of interior spaces or what I think is “cool”.  This is not your typical “interior design” blog.  It is about how the profession of “interior design” is defined, promoted and perceived by society, our peers and our policy makers.  To be clear much what I post here is based on my opinion formed by 30+ years of practice and academic experience.  Despite what the egalitarians among us claim interior designers are not equal.  And while others may claim that titles do not matter we all want to be respected for our hard earned skills and knowledge and we must somehow identify ourselves and why we matter.  In that sense titles are important.  They are an indicator of our sense of purpose and being.  We all want to be proud of our chosen careers.  How can this not be important?

There is a struggle going on for the heart and soul of what most people know as “interior design”.  Some feel that government regulation is the best model to advance the profession of interior design.  Truth be known-

 I support ID regulation that does not infringe upon the rights of innately qualified interior designers to continue to practice interior design. I support ID regulation that allows qualified professionals to practice independently in code based design and construction environments.

HOWEVER,  I do not support the effort to legislate the practice of Interior Design as a public relations campaign. 

Which unfortunately is how many of my peers see the effort to regulate the practice of ID.  I also support, and will defend to the death, our collective effort to educate, train and examine those who choose to pursue status as  NCIDQ certified Interior Design professionals.  I will do what I can to call out those legislative efforts that infringe upon the rights of individuals to call themselves “Interior Designers” and their work “Interior Design.  Confused?  Well it is complicated-unfortunately.

SIMPLY PUT ANYBODY CAN BE AN INTERIOR DESIGNER.

Change is inevitable. Individuals change, organizations change and professional societies change. We as a profession can choose to advance our collective position within society or we can choose to remain mired in the occupational void between interior decoration, Interior Design and the recent title migration toward interior architecture. Unfortunately there are some whose main purpose in life is to de-professionalize interior design.  To those opponents of change, the choice of others to raise the bar of professional standard by establishing a clear professional path for “certified” interior designers, is a threat. It threatens their self-proclaimed identity.  Unfortunately for those of us who practice in code regulated Interior Design environments, their efforts have resulted in rolling back much of the regulatory progress the profession of Interior Design has made to date.  While I do not support the pro-legislative effort for many reasons I refuse to let the anti-regulation proponents continue to malign my chosen profession and diminish its potential. Many of my peers hope that ignoring them will force them to disappear.  Others believe we can use facts and figures presented in a “professional” and polite discourse to counter their platform.  Not me.

The scrum¹ for the term Interior Designer and the practice of Interior Design is over.  The 1st amendment won.  The ID regulatory effort is evolving to focus less on defining interior design and more on professional and practice rights for those who have chosen to raise the bar of professional standards. I support this tack in our profession’s course.

This blog is an open forum for anybody that is interested in the profession of Interior Design and it’s advancement or not. In particular it is about the public perception of the profession of interior design and how we as a profession are endeavoring to rectify that perception.  Unfortunately pictures of cool objects and cozy spaces are a lot funner but as long as we avoid the difficult issues facing us we will not be able to earn the respect of our design peers and society in general. I love my chosen professions (design practice and design education) and I AM MAD AS HELL AT THE INTERIOR DESIGN STEREOTYPE AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.

This blog is my personal platform. It is not aligned with any professional organization, school, political party or religion. I do not accept advertising fees nor do I charge for my findings and opinions.  I am beholden to no one.

Feel free to post any thoughts as long as the are pertinent. THANKS

STATE OF THE INTERIOR DESIGN PROFESSION 2010

Here is a great panel discussion on many of the issues important to the profession:

http://youtu.be/NrLlz9sdFJ0

1. “Scrum”- an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backward toward their own side.