Is Interior Design for Art or Wealth?
As someone starting out in this industry, this subject has circulated in my mind throughout my studies and has especially become more apparent as I’ve started to think broader as to what this field represents, and its end goal.
I think if you asked the average person on the street what their initial thought would be if someone said they hired an interior designer to do their home, they would probably assume they were fairly wealthy. Whether it be building a home from scratch, or redesigning a new home or apartment, having an interior designer implies one has the means to spend. Now this can be true in many cases, usually those who have the means for things like personal trainers, personal chefs etc. it’s because they have the funds for it - It isn’t a necessity, it’s a luxury. I think we all love to watch the celebrity Vogue house tours, or flip through magazines of beautiful penthouses and elaborate houses - but for most people, this seems like something so detached from our reality. However, when it comes to something like interior design, commercial or residential, the average person spends over 90% of their day to day life within the walls of something someone has designed. It isn't something we are detached from, it is in fact a huge part of pretty much everyone’s reality.
Interior design and architecture is the act of combining necessity with art. However, I think at times the art side of it takes precedence in a way where luxury overpowers the necessity. The popularity and emphasis on the luxury side of interior design has brought on a connotation that it is only accessible for a certain type of person. Not least because even at its earliest existence in the 1940s and 50s in America, interior designers were mostly seen in the light of the highest class - since then, this idea has mostly remained. People like Elsie de Wolfe, Dorothy Draper, Billy Baldwin, and Albert Hadley made the interior design field flourish and were the catalysts for this industry within America, and with their talents and success, they landed incredible design opportunities. Designing hotels, celebrity houses, the White House and more. So naturally, the average person would have admired from a distance, interpreting the world of interior design to be one separate from their own.
With that being said, I think there has begun a shift in how interior design is interpreted today and the value it carries due to its growing recognition and accessibility. With social media, websites, blogs etc. people are able to post and showcase their work and allow people to see the world of interior design at all stages and all calibers. You may see the works of a famous designer completing a celebrity’s mansion in Beverly Hills, or you can see an interior designer’s beautiful small quaint coffee shop. One is not “better” than the other - it simply shows the diversity and immense blanket this field covers. It shows how our choices, our work, and our designs can cover such a broad scope and can truly impact any person in all walks of life. Only now, with the beauty of the internet, can anyone's work be appreciated and acknowledged.
It isn’t just the accessibility to other people’s work, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram, interior designers have been able to share some of their knowledge to help people make small changes throughout their homes or within their interiors to allow for big differences. Mr. Cliff Tan is a perfect example - @dearmodern on TikTok shares his wealth of knowledge and experience to provide people on the app with advice and space planning solutions within their living space. He uses the tried and tested Feng Shui approach to guide people towards better furniture arrangements. It may seem like something simple or obvious, but people all over the world seek his advice - and he is able to do just that, from the comfort of his own home.
Another example is Julie Jones @juliejonesdesigns - she offers her services virtually and posts videos of her ideas and solutions for others to gain an understanding of her work as well as providing inspiration for others. Both of these designers have gained huge followings on their platforms in the last 5 years.
Example of a blog post by Kim Wacker sharing popular Interior Designer’s platforms
Interior design is a newer career field and though there's a difference between interior decorating and interior designing, they are often lumped into one. The world of interior design and the amount of education and intricacies that go into it are often overlooked. The world of social media has allowed designers to create platforms for their work, not only to help broaden people’s knowledge of the field itself, but also provide more people access to what it is we can do for them. Our responsibility as designers isn’t just to create luxury, it’s to create ease and enjoyment within the walls that makeup people’s everyday life