With the month of April comes two kinds of storms: thunder and controversy. It was exactly one year ago this month and in this very column that I wrote about George Will’s piece in The Washington Post designating interior design legislation as intrusive, unnecessary, and a form of “cartelization.” This April’s fact-bending front came in the form of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Institute of Justice* senior attorney Clark Neily, who specifically accuses the American Society of Interior Designers [ASID] – one of many interior design industry professional organizations – as pursuing legislation for reasons of “naked economic protectionism.” Among many arguable points, his disregard of the breadth and intricacies of the profession raised my hackles, not to mention those of many others involved with the profession…

Both ASID and NCIDQ, the independent organization that produces the interior design qualification exam and that regularly writes articles for P&C, wrote letters to the editor, which you can access here. For a lively exchange of pros and cons, refer to the WSJ blog posts. [Post publishing addition (04/10/08): The response (PDF) by IIDA, the International Interior Design Association.]

I decided to comment on a local Dallas décor-focused magazine’s blog after a fellow interior designer made me aware of it. In that entry, I referred back to a 2001 piece published on P&C in October 2005 titled “Design Vs. Decoration.” A distinct difference exists between the two, and I personally don’t understand why it is so undesirable to call oneself an interior decorator instead of an interior designer. Like interior designers, decorators perform a wonderful, much needed service for their clients, but their focus is on aesthetics. As the “Design Vs. Decoration” article explains, those who have gone through the process of interior design certification are equipped with the tools to understand the bigger picture, which involves topics from egress to indoor air quality to universal design.

Due to misinformation that is too complicated to fully explore in this particular article, we interior designers are being accused of trying to hoard all of the design business out there for ourselves. Please believe me when I say…

Interior decorators, we are not trying to put you out of business – we need and respect your services. Showrooms and workrooms that provide products and services like visiting homes to take measurements and consulting with owners, we have no interest in putting you out of business – we rely on your services too. Architects, we are not trying to become what you are – we look to you for your expertise.

As I communicated to students at a recent speaking engagement at Louisiana Tech’s School of Architecture, no one designs in a vacuum. It has always been a multi-disciplinary process requiring a team effort, and it always will be. We all need each other in this crazy industry to make our clients’ projects a success and to bring value to the built environment, and all of the infighting creates tensions, suspicion and ire that is exhausting and counter-productive. Can’t we all just get along?

Laura McDonald Stewart, ASID / IIDA
Interior Designer / Founder

*As per their website, in May 2007 the Institute for Justice, “filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin on behalf of four entrepreneurs challenging Texas’ ‘titling’ law as a violation of free speech rights protected by the First Amendment.”