It’s time to share this post about dangerous types of interior designers because interior design as a profession is starting to head into a direction that worries me and it’s called regulation. It’s not regulation itself but the things that happen as a result of regulation. I want to be a voice and make a stand for the majority of practicing interior designers who are somehow left alone, penalised and marginalised on the outskirts of the industry for no other reason except for that they didn’t get a formal interior design education (such as a degree or diploma) even though they didn’t need one, to practise interior design.

Here is a trick question: Which profession can anyone do for themselves, yet as soon as they describe it as work, they require a four-year degree to qualify? A childminder? No, surprisingly. Plumbers? No, even though they weld with open flames near gas... Electricians (surely?) No, not even electricians require degrees.

I know you guessed it, but you probably can’t believe it. Anyone can decorate and design their own home legally and safely and have done so for as long as humanity has existed, yet as soon as we want to call that “interior design” and offer it as a service to friends or others, in some places around the world, this requires a FOUR YEAR degree and is regulated under title or practise acts (laws that prevent you from using the name interior designer or undertaking the work of an interior designer). It’s these types of interior designers who push for title and practice acts and fight for interior design regulation and legislation who are dangerous, not only to the future of the interior design industry but mostly to the people they are trying to protect (their future clients).

Why are these types of interior designers dangerous? We must start with a few historical facts about the profession of interior design before we can answer this question.

So now that we know how and when interior design regulation came about let’s look at the arguments these types of interior designers and organisations use for regulating the profession.

I truly believe that the reasons behind regulation are genuine to improve education within the industry, something I am passionate about myself and the reason why I started an interior design school! However, I feel that this perspective has been lost, and the types of designers who fight for regulation are now using different arguments, inflating the importance of the role of an interior designer, creating discrimination and confusion in the industry. Here are a few of the typical reasons designers argue “for” regulation:

This may not seem dangerous and it shouldn’t be, except for the effect of regulation on real humans who start to feel bitter about the fact that they had to go through additional training to other who didn’t have to, causing a rift between the “haves” and the “have-nots”. If you’ve ever searched anything online about “how to become a self-taught interior designer” you’ll have come across a lot of conflicting information as well as insulting and derogatory comments by these types of interior designers who are quick to point out that interior design is dangerous and if you’re not “qualified” you might kill people, your house might fall apart or your home might not be safe to live in.

Here are some typical comments you’ll see around the topic of self-taught interior designers alluding to the idea that it might be dangerous to you, to your home and to others to hire someone who hasn’t got a degree or license in interior designing:

It was many years ago that I first saw these types of comments, and I must admit I thought they were a one-off, but worryingly, I am starting to see a resurgence and many similar comments from these types of interior designers who are starting to compare interior design to engineering and architecture.

If an interior designer is responsible for the safety of building users and requires structural calculation knowledge of stairs and ceilings, that starts sounding very much like an engineer or architect. As a working interior designer and someone trained in both architecture and interior design, I find it very alarming to see these types of interior designers comparing themselves to architects.

Here are just a few of the types of comments you’re likely to read on this topic by these types of interior desingers:

These types of interior designers are dangerous because they are spreading misinformation that interior design is interior architecture, inflating the importance of the job-role of an interior designer and causing real confusion about who clients should hire to undertake regulatory-specific work in buildings.

Imagine if you believed these designers’ comments and hired an interior designer to do structural work for you, believing they were qualified interior architects, or worse, the designer themselves, with their hyper-inflated egos, believed they were qualified to do so. This is much more dangerous than the worst thing an interior designer could actually do (like underspecifying the slip resistance on a lobby floor [which thanks to Hollywood movies is common sense] or specifying a heavy light fixture without a pattress [which a builder {who doesn’t need a degree} would flag up before installation anyway]).

Who are these inferior interior designers, you ask? These supposedly uneducated, self-taught, dangerous, pillow-plumping, curtain-choosing decorators who shouldn’t be calling themselves interior designers are surprisingly among some of the most famous and successful designers in the world (shocking, I know).

I’m not sure how it is possible, but the following list of popular interior designers whom you’ll regularly find on the world’s top designers lists are self-taught interior designers WITHOUT four-year interior design degrees (shh, as far as I know, they haven’t killed anyone yet):

It only takes one flick of your wrist to swipe on social media to see that there are hundreds of thousands of successful, “amateur” and self-taught interior designers out there making a legitimate living, minding their own business, not harming a soul – and being attacked by these types of interior designers who believe they are superior because they got a degree in interior design (or interior architecture which is supposedly the same thing…)

I suppose if I did a four-year degree that didn’t mean anything, I might act this way too. However, these types of designers are not only bitter, discriminative and condescending, they are supposedly following something called a code of conduct, which requires them to act professionally at all times and avoid making any intentionally false statements, (either written or spoken), that can harm any other designer’s reputation or disparages their character. According to one of the certification bodies’ code of conduct, they also should not be endorsing certification or licensure or misrepresenting anyone who hasn’t got a degree in interior design.

I was one of these people. There was no-way someone like me (first generation immigrant, on benefits, coming from a non-English speaking family) could get the marks let alone the money to study a degree in architecture which required a final score in the top 98%. I was LUCKY.

I knew I wanted to do architecture but I never thought it was possible for someone like me, so I never entertained the idea. It wasn’t until my art teacher in my final year of high-school made me see that it was worth trying, even if the path wasn’t direct – and I found a way. I made it, but this is not everyone’s story.

I believe I was lucky (not without hard work, debt and effort), but definitely there was luck involved too. Many of these types of interior designers believe that self-taught interior designers choose not to go to university, but this isn’t true. Not everyone is academic (I wasn’t – I received VERY low marks for all of my essays at university, but that didn’t make me an inferior designer!) others cannot afford the time (due to other commitments) and others again simply cannot afford the fees.

One thing I want to highlight is the ability for interior designers to sign off code-related items and pull permits for minor interior retrofits. I feel like the question needs to be asked – how many interior designers does this affect? Is there any real data on the number of interior design companies out there losing huge amounts of profit because they’re doing architectural work but can’t hire an architect to approve the drawings.

Larger companies typically hire architects as part of the team anyway, so this only affects smaller design businesses (I’m guessing). How many interior designers are struggling to make ends meet because architects need to approve their drawings? Isn’t it good practise to have someone check your work anyway (especially if you’re working solo) and isn’t it worth not having extra liability and expensive insurance? I genuinely would like to understand a real situation or person who this affects – if this is you, please tell us about your situation in the comments.

Considering that the majority of countries around the world don’t regulate the interior design profession, it is surprising how convincing these types of interior designers can be in making you believe that it’s regulated everywhere. I’m sure that in some Canadian states you can’t even buy an interior design magazine unless you’ve got a four-year degree 😊.

So, we now know the typical arguments for regulation, let’s now look at the arguments against regulation:

You might say, “Well of course” architects disagree with the legislation; that’s obvious! Maybe? Maybe not? Interior architecture is an established profession. It isn’t interior design. It is interior architecture, a speciality of architecture where the path to qualification requires you to study architecture first to understand building science and then specialise in interior architecture.

To become an interior architect, you must be a licensed architect (not an interior designer). Studying interior design (or even interior architecture) and thinking you’re an interior architect is very dangerous. But why?

These types of interior designers who fight for interior design regulation are dangerous, not only to the future of the interior design industry but mostly to the people they supposedly protect from self-taught interior designers.

I am proud to say that I am an interior designer with a degree who is not a proponent of regulation but I work tirelessly to make interior design accessible by providing an alternative pathway into the profession which doesn’t discriminate against anyone due to their education, age, background, gender or ethnicity.

I am proud of my past mentee Rukmini Patel, a successful, professional, self-taught interior designer (link to Rukmini’s website Rukmini Patel | Design For Diversity ) who alongside Kate-Watson Smith (you might know her as the writer behind the famous blog “Mad About The House”), have created an inspiring and important pledge for diversity within the interior design industry.

The Pledge is a three-point Pledge covering “Visibility, Opportunity and Accessibility to help the design industry to become diverse. It is a first step to working towards a diverse design industry and giving brands, businesses and bloggers guidelines on areas they can work on.”

As the CEO of the Interior Designers Business School in London, I am proud to make this pledge and place this badge on our site. I also hope that by creating this post, many more designers worldwide will learn about this pledge, become proponents of it, and wear the badge proudly on their websites, social media and marketing material.

As an interior designer and a mentor, I constantly tell my mentees that part of our job is helping to educate others on what it is that interior designers do. I feel like these types of interior designers who fight for regulation have the right intention, but the results are very dangerous.

These types of interior designers are dangerous even though their aim is to support education, they’re alienating people who want to be educated, but don’t have the means. They also keep information hidden from the people who need it the most – self-taught interior designers. Please join me in the pledge for diversity, use the hashtag #deregulateID, and help provide freedom of education to interior designers without discrimination.

My intention with this article has been to help raise awareness about what regulating the profession does to the interior design industry. I personally believe that interior design should not be regulated and that a clear distinction between interior design and architecture needs to be made by the profession world-wide. Interior design, including interior decorating, interior styling, interior staging and all other proponents of interiors should fall under the heading of interior design. But for the health, wellbeing and safety of building users’ interior architecture should be just that, architecture with an interiors speciality, not the other way round. Let’s not make interior design illegal. Every day I’m grateful that I can practise and teach interior design. It brings so much joy to designers as well as their clients, let’s work together towards getting the right education to interior designers rather than making interior design something it isn’t.

What is your experience of being an interior designer? Whether you’re a university taught or self-taught interior designer, please share your experiences and stories in the comments. Let’s close this gap and feel proud that we are all interior designers making a positive impact in our client’s lives (whether that’s creating accessible homes, designing oversized chandeliers or plumbing cushions).

If you’re ready to start your dream career as an interior designer, check out our mentorship program here: Online Interior Design Course.