Personal Note: "Interior Designer" or "Interior Decorator"? What's in a name?

Recently there was a post on Linked-In asking "How do you handle it when someone calls you a decorator instead of a designer, without offending them?" Some responses pointed out that some of the biggest historical names in interiors (Billy Baldwin, Sister Parish) were all "Interior Decorators" and suggested embracing the title.  In fact, Billy Baldwin abhorred the title "Interior Designer."   Others asked "who cares what they call you as long as they write the check?" Still others said they had "studied too hard and put in too many hours to be called a 'decorator'."

I am definitely in the camp of 'who cares what they call me.' Not because the client has the power of check-writing, but because my mission is to help people feel more at home in their home.  If they need decorating services and I can help with that, great! If they need help with a remodel and I can help with that, great! If they just need help letting go of Aunt Suzie's armoire and I can help with that, great!

Rebecca West, a designer for "the rest of us." 

We all came to be home interior professionals from different paths.  For some the *art* of the project and being on the cutting edge of design is paramount, and the title will go hand in hand with the position they seek to establish for themselves in the design world.  Others have been spurned too many times by an Architect who called them 'just a decorator' without any respect for what a color and materials specialist brings to the table, and the training to be a 'designer' comes with a great deal of pride in that investment.

What bothers me is that there is still this lack of respect *within* the design community for our colleagues. There are plenty of clients in the world for a stadium full of designers, decorators, redesigners, stagers, and color consultants.  Instead of getting hung up on titles and heirarchy, why not create a collaborative, supportive environment so that we can more easily bring beauty and order to this chaotic world?

Am I too plebeian in my world view?  Maybe.  With catch-phrases like "Design for the rest of us" and "Design for real people"I doubt my voice will be heard among the upper echelons of the design world.  But I stand by my opinion because, in the end, the client's needs should always be paramount.  For me, that means that no question is too small, no worry too inconsequential, if it leads to a happier life and home for the client.  The title has no bearing on that outcome.

On a Personal Note: On being a solo-preneur and charging reasonable design rates

This month I have been doing a lot of thinking about my role in Rivalee Design.  For five wonderful years the company has continued to grow, offering more services, broadening the scope of projects, and hosting classes and seminars on design. There are times when I question my own capacity to be the sole designer at Rivalee Design. I don't know what the future holds but so far I have kept to the sole designer model for a very specific reason. I am not trying to grow a big design firm. Since day one the relationship I have with my clients has been my #1 motivation in working every day. To outsource that relationship to a team of interns or junior designers would mean that I would not get to work as closely with each clients as I prefer. As I said, I don't know what the future holds, but I will hold to this ideal as long as I can.

My other guiding value is to make design as accessible as posssible, and try to keep my rates and the way I work as available to 'real people' as I can. I know that in order to do that and still meet my other personal goals, I have to find other ways to spread my message and reach the public. What will that mean? For one, it will mean writing! Two books currently in the works, one on the Empty Nest and feeling at home in a now-empty home, and one on Divorce and creating a new life and space when newly single. Next January watch for a collaborative workshop for women in their 40s 50s and 60s ready to launch their third chapter. And I am also in the talks with a production company to create a series of educational videos. It's going to be a busy year, but another exciting one.  

Oh, and did I mention I'm planning a wedding on top of all of that? Come the end of the year I might need a very, very long nap.