What I Learned in College: Interior Design School Knowledge

Today is day four in my What I Learned in College series!  Read the other posts in my series here, here and here.

1. Interior Design is Not HGTV .
It took all of three minutes for my favorite professor to let us know "if you're here because you like what you see on HGTV, this is not for you!" This was day one of design class and I was already scared. I did love what I saw on HGTV, and still do, but I came to find out it doesn't happen like you see it on TV. Nope, not one bit.

While in interior design school, I learned that design is a process; it doesn't happen over night or in a crazy five day timeline. Design is one part working with people and being a psychologist, one part beautiful and functional spaces, and one part business. That's the recipe for success!  While we love to think that everything on HGTV is real and amazing, and trust me I still watch and love lots of shows, a lot of it is made up for some good ole television. House Hunters? 90% of the time, the couple has already purchased the home prior to filming the show. Love it or List it drama? Yeah, that's definitely staged. Sorry to break it to you ;)

Interior design is hard work and it takes a long time, but you know what?! I sort of like it that way, because the reward is so much greater.

2. I am a Designer.
The second thing my professor said on our first day of class was to never refer to ourselves as "decorators."  Sure, we can decorate and style {and in fact, I love those aspects!} but there is a true difference in a designer vs. decorator. Before attending school for this, I knew there was a difference but didn't really care, nor did I fully understand it. The difference comes in the technical knowledge we learn when in school.  We went to school for four years and are trained in CAD, sustainability, which materials are best for certain applications, rendering, scaling, Photoshop, SketchUp, structural aspects and foundation issues of housing, and the technical side tot lighting {don't even get me started on all the things you don't want to know about a light bulb}.  Contrary to what a lot of people think, I don't learn about how to choose a cute chandelier, rug, or pillows.  Hopefully that is just a natural talent of mine, because there were no classes on this aspect {I'm pretty sure it's a skill I possess, thankfully}.  There is much, much more than that! 

This being said, I'm not trying to say we're better than decorators, because some of my favorite women in the business are self-proclaimed decorators and they are so, insanely talented. They are just two different things, that is all.  Alright. I'm going to stop there before this turns into an essay :)


Speaking of HGTV, can we talk about the fact that the network has hardly any actual interior design shows on anymore?! Yes, there's a lot of flipping, house hunting, and renovating shows, but none that really teach interior design. So sad, if you ask me! Agree??

Happy Weekend!
xoxo