Residential Boom! Interior Designers are in Demand!

To choose a career in residential interior design is to choose to improve and enhance the look, function, and overall appeal of everything related to the home.  From totally re-sculpting the architectural shape of a room, to coordinating paint, flooring options, and fabric, to selecting the furnishings that best suit the needs of a particular space - a residential interior designer could be involved with each of these elements. The designer sees the big picture: a beautifully appeasing space, and he or she creates the completed puzzle with attention to small details that fit as smaller pieces into this spectacular vision!

It seems that everyone desires for such a vision realized in their homes!  There are two reasons for this that are of particular interest to anyone involved with interior design.  First, the home real estate market is growing rapidly! Housing development is expanding all over the country - from Manhattan high-rises to rural Carolina subdivisions.  Frankly, this boom is promulgated by high demand. More people are purchasing homes, upgrading to larger homes, and essentially focusing more of their income on housing.  Second, people are becoming increasingly more interested in making their houses homes - homes that reflect a sense of individuality, creativity, and the values of the homeowners.  More frequently, people are viewing their homes as extensions of themselves, and just as most of us spend time and money to develop our style and personality with wardrobe and hobbies, larger portions of society are perfectly willing to go the extra mile with interior design to create a home that sings praises to individual style and personality!

Thus, it is a great time to become involved with interior design! Though the shows are wildly popular and completely inspiring, not everyone performs their own "Trading Spaces" re-do on various rooms requiring attention each weekend!  Most homeowners do not have the creativity and the time to replicate a "Surprise By Design" or a "Divine Design" in their own homes.  However, the fanatical popularity of such television programs certainly serves as a daily example of just how simple it can be to team up with a design professional to create rooms of awe and wonder! Thus, it is not a far stretch to say that people are now less reluctant to seek out an interior designer when they are "In a Fix," or needing to "Design on a Dime."  So, thanks in part to the wonder of reality television, interior designers have been given a boost and a following from homeowners who may have been previously wary of seeking professional help. 

Peak interest definitely means more potential for new design jobs, but unfortunately, it does not alleviate design challenges!  Perhaps the biggest challenge in residential interior design involves successfully tapping into the client's personal interests, personality, and desires for the space.  As mentioned earlier, more than ever people view their homes as extensions of self, which means that it is important for the designer to properly identify this sense of "self" and replicate it into a successful design plan.  Obviously, this can be a challenge, but it can also be a fascinating way to meet and get to know different people!  This is a great aspect of this career field for designers interested in the lives and values of other people, and it is also fabulous for designers interested in interpreting and conceptualizing the desires and dreams of homeowners. Ideally, a residential interior designer finishes a project with a sigh of simple satisfaction and a smile of inspiration stemming from the many incredible forms of the human spirit. What a nice job!