I think someone should let Mr.Neily know that those giving advice on things such as paint colors & throw pillows are called INTERIOR DECORATORs NOT AN INTERIOR DESIGNERS! Interiors designers make daily decisions that effect the health, safety & welfare of the public….not what color tassles should go on a pillow.

Sorry Brad, but that’s ignorant. If you’ve ever worked in an office building, an interior designer has directly affected your health, your safety, and your welfare.

Oh, if you want to read the article reference in my post above, just go to: http://www.plinthandchintz.com.....ew/195/42/

Brad, you clearly have no clue what a professional, qualified & educated interior designer does…thank you for making a perfect case of why the legislation is necessary. Thank you!

so Brad, what color do you want your throw pillows to BE??
— Inquiring dolly decorator

Thank goodness these regulations are not ever going to pass.

Okay, I read the forums at all three places, and this is absurd. The best case someone made that designers are better than decorators is: ” someone should call a designer if they think about putting a piece of furniture in front of a fire exit or painting a fir sprinkler.” No, that person would be better served by calling their parents and asking why they were taught no common sense.

Architects, contractors and code enforcement deal with the structure and anything permanently attached to it. Decorators and designers work with the interior of a structure to give practicality and make it aesthetically pleasing. They don’t need a license for that, just a series of references.

Laura:

You have a great website but the obsession with licensing by ASID/IIDA/NCIDQ and professors trying to promote their interior design degree programs will destroy the profession.

The black & white view that decorators are nothing more than bored housewives and designers are nobel prize winners is insane.

The interior design consumer in both the residential and commercial marketplace should be able to do their own due diligence as to who they wish to hire without “nanny state” goverment regulation.

It is time for “Political Science” to be removed from the core curriculum of interior design programs.

Posted on our Blog at www-interiordesignfreedom-org

Congratulations to the National Kitchen and Bath Association for taking a stand against the American Society of Interior Designers position on its self-serving legislative efforts.

I am an interior design professional. I have graduated with an interior design education, (including all NKBA standards) passed state-required exams, worked in the real world of interior design, paid ASID dues for years and have suffered under the discombobulated efforts of ASID.

The whole thing is simple: ASID is an insular, insecure group of professionals trying to use the government to profit. They entangle interior design colleges (also wanting to profit) into their web (via Council for Interior Design Accreditation. They strangle people in the interior design profession by creating self-made credentials and changing the parameters for those who can pay their dues and those who cannot. They smother students who have dreams of becoming an interior designer with ever-increasing levels of education, inadequate tools of measurement such as the NCIDQ Exam and of late, a required two-year slavery (oops, I mean apprenticeship) requirement.

And now, let us open our eyes to the big elephant in the room . . . .

The real enemy of an interior designer is public perception. We have over 100 home-décor related televisions shows showing the cheery, slap-happy life of an interior designer! ASID has made no effort to help create a professional image of interior design in the public eye. One the most popular shows on HGTV portrays the interior designer as a mini-skirted, cleavage-heaving, dipsh*t who struts around in 3-inch high-heels. The format of the show is: designer helps client find their style by having moving men switch numerous pieces of furniture in and out of the room. No interior design plan is formed and it all gets wrapped up in 20 minutes. What are the credentials for the interior designer? The designer is assumed to have authority because of the 3-inch heels and style because she wears big dangly earrings. There is never mention of the designer’s fees. Where is ASID? They are busy preaching to the choir about the dangers of not being NCIDQ certified and training designers to become lobbyists! The last ASID Newsletter, sent to the members, devoted two pages on how to communicate the importance of legislating interior design to the government officials! ASID spends their members’ dues to buy (oops, I mean lobby) the government to police an interior designer’s activities. ASID should be helping members promote themselves in the free market, via the most powerful elephant in the room (now in high-definition).

Regardless of how strongly an interior designer stands behind their credentials, the general public has no clue as to which appellation – ASID, NKBA, IIDA, IDS, is in their best interest. Because after watching HGTV, a design professional just needs a pair of big dangly earrings!

ASID wants to protect the public’s health, safety and welfare by having the government control and regulate interior designers. WAKE-UP! The US Government is out of money, we are at war, our kids are not getting properly educated, people are losing their jobs, crime is going up and sick and dying Americans can’t get medical help because they are poor and uninsured. Are there really enough resources within our government to police and monitor space planning, wall color selection, furniture placement and window treatment concepts? ASID puts forth enormous effort funding creation of the law, but are they planning on monitoring and reinforcing the law as well?

Unions were created to help workers unite because they were being mistreated, ASID was created to promote individual businesses profit. Now they want to use the public’s taxes to police their own interests. They should not be allowed to have individuals profit on the backs of the taxpayers.

ASID credentials have no weight in the free market. No matter what you call yourself, it does not matter to the client. If ASID efforts succeed in limiting the use of the term Interior Designer in more states, it still won’t matter to the general public. Interior Designer, Interior Re-designer, Interior Stylist, Home-Stager, Interior Decorator all mean the same thing to a client. In reality, all home décor professionals affect the safe, health and well-being of the public so just where does government regulation start and end? The only people who care about ASID credentials are people with ASID credentials.

However, according to this article, NKBA has spent in excess of $1,000,000 wisely, as they are gaining a foothold in consumer recognition. In college, we used NKBA standards to learn competencies for kitchen and bath design, not ASID standards.

The general public makes no distinction between a registered interior designer and the ever-increasing abundance of home decorators, home-stylists, home-stagers, furniture-sales consultants, re-designers, closet-cleaning coordinators, flower re-arrangers and napkin-folding specialists. Many of these home industry entrepreneurs call themselves interior designers and have no idea there are state laws that may apply to them. I live in a state where interior design is regulated, so why do all these people continue to consider themselves interior designers? Because the laws sit on the books and no one is enforcing them. Since it is not ASID but the general public that hires design professionals, it is logical that ASID should focus on helping all their members generate income and not be the self-serving behemoth it has become.

Why are ASID interior designers pretending to be architects? Unsuspecting students are applying to CIDA design schools in droves and the first thing they are expected to do is join ASID. They get fooled (oops, I mean informed) that a degree in interior design holds the same weight as a degree in architecture. What they don’t realize is an interior designer is not an architect. In most states an interior designer cannot seal or stamp plans (which means legally authorize). That is what an architect does. Some interior design schools use the term interior architect. This means you go through the similar training and education as an architect, but you don’t get to be an architect. ASID is pushing for educational requirements to acknowledge only four-year interior design colleges that meet their criteria. Yet, in most states an interior designer does not have the legal authority to make structural decisions. Why would a person go to a four-year interior design school and try to be an architect? It seems ASID’s agenda is to treat interior design as architecture. It is clear the term interior design does not elevate itself to that of architect. Since many of ASID members have been “grandfathered” in, it really would be a danger to the health, welfare and safety if they suddenly had the authority of an architect without passing the Architect Registration Exam.

The precious words “interior design” that ASID is guarding and protecting mean little to the outside world — now a global economy not simply a “society” of American interior designers. The National Kitchen and Bath Association is earning greater respect in the design community and since they have taken this position against ASID, they have earned my respect as well.

and for the record i am not an ASID member…and am tired of those anti-ASID folks using ASID as the reason we should not have legislation. really….it’s getting a little stale.

Well, this is all just rediculous. I have attended an accredited University and majored in interior design - guess what? My degree is a B.S. in Architectural Studies from one of the top rated schools in the country for BOTH interior design and architecture - it was combined as it should be. The first two years of interior design curriculum was almost identical to that of the Architecture majors. I have passed the NCIDQ exam and my application for licensure is being processed as we speak. I am no longer a member ASID - it’s not worth the money in my opinion. I am totally FOR state licensing because MY background and credentials are far superior to those of a graduate of say “Sally Struthers - get your degree in interior design!” I have been a kitchen designer for the past ten years and have worked with a lot of people that call themselves interior designers, but all they really do is pick paint colors, etc. They should be calling themselves decorators and they don’t - this is mis-leading to the public and downgrades people like myself who are actually educated. I also just took my CKD exam through the NKBA. So, I’ll be required to pay dues to an organization that opposes something I belive in - bringing interior design to the respected professional level through licensure. Architects are known to many kitchen designers as kitchen hackers. Their education does not have the emphasis on interior space planning as that of a REAL interior designer. I’m sorry for those so-called designers who feel threatened by the new legislation being passed, but to me, it is a GOOD thing. As for the NKBA having opposition to it rather than making more of an effort to combine interior design with kitchen design as it should be - well, it’s just sad.

Dear po’od designer:

How exactly is the government going to help you?

Why do you need “nanny state” regulation to compete in the marketplace?

Why don’t you just focus on competing with your portfolio, referrals and references.

That’s all the NKBA is saying. If you have a degree, passed NCIDQ, passed CKD then let your clients know. But don’t be surprised if they tell you they don’t care. They may just ask to see your porfolio. What a novel concept!

Let’s leave the government out of our business.