Since I declared my major a year and a half ago, I have heard some things over and over again. Interior design has a lot of stereotype surrounding it from what we do, why we do it and everything in between. A lot of people confusing design with decorating; decorating is matching curtains and pillows, design is everything from wall plans to plumbing plans. We turn an empty shell of a building into something habitable. Hopefully with a little more knowledge about what we do people will stop saying these things to us.
1. "Can you come to my house?”
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This is the typical response when you say you’re majoring in interior design. Odds are I will never come to your house, but I have gotten really good at my Michelle Tanner impression.
2. “I always thought I could do that.”
Okay. We don’t know how to respond to this one. Odds are you couldn’t do it. Yes, I bet your house is pretty and you like picking out furniture, but I doubt you could spend hours in the studio slaving over a floor plan.
3. “You must be good at math.”
I don’t get why people think this. I hate math and I am not good at math. The extent of the math skills I do is dividing a number by 12 on my calculator to turn the inches into feet.
4. "I bet that’s easy and fun.”
Interior design is in no way easy, but it is very fun. I have seen the sun set and then rise the next morning from the studio. I have gone to class with 20 minutes of sleep and marker on my hands (one time on my face) and wearing the same clothes from the day before. I swear if my classmates weren’t my best friends and doing the same thing as me, they’d think I was homeless. I believe it’s the most time consuming major, but I wouldn’t trade any of it!
5. “I bet your room is super cute.”
Yeah, it is. But I have seen plenty of cute rooms that aren’t done by interior designers!
6. “I love HGTV!”
OMG girl, I feel that same! But HGTV is not interior design. It’s mainly house hunting and house-flipping shows now, but the few design shows are just interior decorating. It is very different from what I do!
7. "You must be great at drawing."
Most of things I draw for interior design are from a stencil or constructed with tools we are given. We also do a lot of work on the computer so I actually have the same drawing skills as a kid that just learned how to hold a pencil!
8. “You have to go to school for that?"
Actually to work as an interior designer you need to have an education from an accredited program. We need to know codes and laws so not just anyone can assemble a group of people and construct and design a building.
While I love talking about my major and what I want to do in the future, I would love to start the conversation with some other questions! Interior design majors often go unappreciated, but we work just as hard as any other major and love to brag about our work!
