ABC’s of Fine Design

I have always been interested in designing spa’s. Not the kind you sit in at home, but the ones you go to and relax and enjoy yourself. I love the idea of helping people to calm down and unstressed. I keep thinking I should try to design and open my own one day. I would love to and right now the area I live in could use one. It’s a small town, but people don’t have anywhere to go to really relax and get pampered.

I know I’m strange but I find myself planning it all out in my head, like where the ellipticals and weight benches will go or where I’m going to put the restaurant with the wonderfully tastey spa cuisine? I guess thats why I’m going to school for interior design I think about these things so much.

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A few days ago I wrote about places that Interior Designers could design. Someone emailed me and asked me how hard it would be to design a drug rehab center? They couldn’t understand why they would need an interior designer to do that. I’m not going to go into all of the details, but I will tell you a few reasons why.

The big one, and the title of this post is codes. There are many many codes involved in any hospital type building. Yes drug rehab is considered a hospital to put it simply. You have to know what is allowed and what is not such as: 

• Do the hallways have to be a certain length or width?
• How should the fire exist be marked.
• Are Sprinkler systems required.

Another reason Interior designers may design a drug rehab center is that you need it to feel comfortable and like home. These people are sick, they need a good environment in order to get well.

Of course there are many more technical reasons for designers to be involved in this type of design, but without a book in front of you to reference you wouldn’t understand half of what I’m telling you. So just believe me when I say Interior designers are very important when designing most types of buildings.

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If your thinking of starting a home based interior design business there are many things you will need to think about. Not just what your desk is going to look like or if you can write off that coffee pot you have been wanting, but real world stuff that many people don’t think about.

One of the most important things to do is to talk to your local tax person. Find out what you can claim, what you can’t, and what you might be able to. They know what there doing trust me.

Think about the cost of individual health insurance. Your going to need it because home based workers don’t get health insurance unless they are married and their spouse does. You should also think about liability insurance, yes you can be sued. It actually happens a lot more then you think.

Local codes. Make sure it is okay to have a home based business. Most places allow them, but you have to check. If your going to be meeting with clients in your home you may have to change a few things first.

These are just a few things to think about. There are many more things on the huge list of what to do before you start a home business, but these are 3 important ones. Good luck

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Interior designers don’t just fluff pillows and put up paint. If your a regular reader of this blog then you know this already. If your new to this blog well this may be news to you.

The following is a list of 10 building interior designers may help design. Most of these buildings will also have the assistance of an architect and an engineer. As a designer you work with many types of people and you must be able to get along well with others.

Shopping Malls, this also includes separate store design and food court design

Clubs, They types vary but think dance club, country clubs, bars and more.

Restaurants, this is a huge industry for interior designers. It’s a specialized industry and one of the hardest ones to do

Hospitals, Yes even hospitals are designed with an interior designer. Have you been to the new maternity wards in hospitals. They are very spacious and comfortable for families. This area also includes drug rehab centers and mental health centers.  Hospital design is the hardest area of the interior design professions

Schools. This is another hard area for designers to get into, usually your not allowed to design a school until you have worked with a school designer for at least 10 years. You may be able to pick out a desk before then though.

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If your goal in life is to be an interior designer then you really do need to look the part. Now what do I mean by that. You need to dress as a professional. Yes it’s fun to look like your right out of a movie where the designer is flouncy and dressed in creative ways, but it probably will not land you a job.

Dressing for a job interview in the design field is simple, a suit with an interesting shirt under it works well. The problem is once you are out there looking, you need to look good all of the time. Casual wear is the problem that many students have a problem with, they think it’s okay to wear sweat shirts and riped jeans everywhere. It’s not, you never know who you will run into.

If your not sure where to find casual clothing check the site where I got this free mock turtleneck. They have a great selection of casual professional clothing that can help you get that design job. Yes I know it’s a plain black shirt but, if you pair it with a nice red or light brown jacket it will look good. Yes this site also sells those sweat shirts you love too.

I know your still wondering what shirts and clothes have to do with design. Well it’s simple, if I see a well dressed women or man I trust them more then a person who looks like there still in college. They look more responsible and approachable. Dress well and throw in a little of your own style and you should be able to get where you want to go, in design or in any profession.

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Many people may see an interior designer as someone who decorates a home and works in a cute little shop. Most interior designers are not this way many have to pack up their Samsonite and head off to other states or countries to work. One of my teachers has been to France, China and Egypt for interior design jobs. Many of these lasted around 6 months. Most of the time they are for major business, like hotels and corporations.

I am really not into that type of design, even though hotel design could be fun. I don’t think I could stay in a hotel that long. I like staying at home and knowing where everything is. I know that many people though prefer to travel to exotic places and get paid to do it too. I’m not saying I wouldn’t travel, I would just prefer not to be gone for long periods of time. I don’t think that will be too hard for me as I plan to do mostly personal homes, not big corporations.

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Do you love to shop? I do, I love to go through all of the stores in the mall and find just that on perfect item for myself or someone else. With Christmas on the way I will be spending more time there looking for Christmas gifts.

Did you know that as an interior designer you can design malls? I’m not talking about the stores in the mall, I did a post on that before. You can check that one out here. I am talking about the entire mall. You get to decide how easy it is to get around, you decide the finishes and furniture in the common areas. You get to decide the feel of the mall. Do you want it to be high end and stylish or more down to earth and cozy?

I like malls that have different store front, it makes the mall seem more personal. Every store that looks different makes the mall seem more fun. This is definitely an area of design you should think about if your into shopping. it’s great for someone who knows how a shopper is going to use the mall. Just think your work will always be admired by someone, even if it’s just a child, maybe this is why I also like holiday design

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