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An Interior Design Education: How 'Real' is Reality TV?
by Jessica Groach
Jessica.Groach@distance-education-degrees.com
Distance Education Degrees Columnist
Do you think watching Trading Spaces qualifies you to redecorate? There's a lot more to interior design than a hot glue gun and pretty fabric. Many interior designers credit Trading Spaces for job security. Between 2001 and 2003, interior design programs tripled their numbers of interior design majors, and it keeps increasing. Is it a coincidence that reality TV has also boomed? Probably not.
Interior Design Education
This has interior design schools and designers all over the country thrilled and discouraged at the same time. How can they convince students that architecture, space planning, applied physics, 3-D computer applications, materials and estimating, technical writing, history, and safety codes are essential skills for licensure, when they've come in believing all it takes is $1,000, a can of paint, and good taste? Interior design is a highly technical field with rigorous licensing procedures and a requirement of at least a bachelor's degree and two years apprenticeship, which is why many professionals are beginning to call themselves "interior architects."
Interior Design Reality
Reality TV shows like Trading Spaces, Designer's Challenge, Surprise by Design, The Christopher Lowell Show, and While You Were Out perpetuate several myths about the industry. One of these is that great designers surprise their clients. Nothing could be further from the truth. The client should actually be an integral, ongoing participant in the design process. A designer's taste or personal style should have nothing to do with the final outcome. It goes far beyond aesthetics; interior design is about form and function.
However, if these shows have you considering design for real, several interior design schools now offer online degree programs, which are accredited by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER) and prepare students for the National Council for Interior Design Qualification examination, a professional requirement.
About the Author
Jessica Groach is a freelance writer, and she has been an English instructor at the University of Nevada, Reno for four years. Her background includes seven years in media, advertising and public relations. Her work has appeared in various lifestyle and business publications, including a Warner Business Book.
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