Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Issue of Regulating the Interior Design Profession and Its Effect on the Designers and the
Public
Madelyn Cichy
Author Note
Madelyn Cichy, Department of Applied Design, Appalachian State University, Interior Design
major.
SHOULD INTERIOR DESIGNERS BE REGULATED 2
Abstract
This paper explores the issue of regulating interior design in the professional field and gives an
opinion of what should be done about the issue. Interior design is discussed in terms of how the
job has changed throughout the years and how that affects not only the professionals in the field
but the general public. The discussion of the regulation of interior design continues with what
states at the moment have different forms of regulation and a bill that has been introduced to
nationally regulate the design profession. The main argument of people in favor of this
regulation make the argument that interior designers have an effect of the safety of the general
public while the opposing side argues that this regulation only favors the qualified interior
designers. A personal opinion in favor of regulating the interior design profession on a national
The Issue of Regulating the Interior Design Profession and Its Effect on the Designers and the
Public
Interior design is the practice of planning and supervising the design and execution of
building interiors. In more laminin terms, an interior designer is in charge of anything interior of
a building that includes, but is not limited to, the design, furnishings, finishes, and architectural
design or layout. Interior design has changed drastically over the past couple of decades, mainly
changing from being limited to just “surface ornamentation” to “designing for human behavior”
because the space a person is in can drastically affect aspects like their mood, motivation, and
work performance (Denise A. Guerin Thompson, Jo Ann Asher, 2004). Becoming an interior
design major takes a lot of work over the course of a few years, but only if you live in state
where being recognized by the state as an interior designer is required for you to practice.
The Issue
Designers, was founded in 1931 and became popular in the 1950s. In 1968 the AID started a
voluntary certification program which followed by the ability to become a licensed interior
designer. The AID merged with other design organizations in nineteen seventy-five to form the
American Society of Interior Designers, or ASID, and immediately began working on state
regulation of interior design (Adrienne Alexander Henjum, Jones, Jeremy, et al, 2010). In 2003
the first bill to be introduced to change interior design into a licensed profession, but the bill has
not been changed nor passed since it was originally introduced (Adrienne Alexander, et a, 20l0).
The Lack of Universal Acceptance. With the changing field of interior design, the field
requires more and more knowledge and requirements are necessary to be qualified for the
professional job. As of right now, the issue is that there is no universal acceptance or regulation
SHOULD INTERIOR DESIGNERS BE REGULATED 4
(Denise A. Guerin, et al, 2004). Occupational regulations are regulations that “aim to protect the
public health and safety by ensuring a minimum level of quality through state-mandated entry
requirements and professional restrictions”. Currently, twenty-five states have some form of
these regulations, Minnesota having the most restrictive form of this regulation by allowing only
qualified people to use the title of “certified interior designer”, but still allows anyone to practice
interior design work without certification (Adrienne Alexander, et al, 2010). The outstanding
argument in support of having these regulations in the interior design field is to have the ability
The Health and Safety of the General Public. The main argument of protecting the
public’s health, safety, and welfare is used in support of passing the bill introduced in 2003. One
of the supporting arguments is the variety of tasks interior designers are in charge of that could,
if not done properly, be harmful and possibly detrimental to a person’s life. Some of these tasks
include toxins, slip resistance, indoor air quality, building and fire codes, and disability access
and there are many more. Another supporting claim being made is that a licensed architect is not
“sufficient” enough to ensure public safety. Because of the growing knowledge needed by
interior designers, architects are no longer always required for a job especially in the case of
The Opposing Side. Opposing parties to the desire to regulate the interior design
profession have found that consumers do not benefit when the industry is regulated, the only
ones pushing for the field to be regulated is the interior designers themselves, and there are fewer
than one hundred lawsuits involving interior designers since the nineteen hundred (Dick M.
Carpenter II, 2008). The lawsuits were not about safety or code regulations but were for
SHOULD INTERIOR DESIGNERS BE REGULATED 5
breaching contracts and customer complaints are extremely rare even when comparing regulated
and unregulated states (Dick M. Carpenter II, 2008). The people who oppose also claim that
there is a push for this regulation from interior designers is for them to exclude competitors and
take advantage of the economic benefits that would come from that.
SHOULD INTERIOR DESIGNERS BE REGULATED 6
Policy Proposal
Being an interior design major does make me biased, but I do believe that the interior
design profession should be regulated for multiple reasons. The interior design program at
Appalachian State University, as well as any other interior design program at other universities
or colleges, is rigorous program that starts the first semester you start college, followed by a
portfolio review at the end of freshman year in which a student is either denied or accepted, and
then continued with three more years of intense studio classes, technical classes, internships,
field studies, and technical labs. After obtaining a four-year bachelor’s degree, an interior
designer who wants to be licensed must then take an intense written test on the technical
knowledge gained throughout the four years of school, followed by three required years of work-
related experience, and finally another test based on field-learned information. Putting in about
seven years of work before I am a licensed interior designer is a lot to put on the line, and it is
upsetting learning that as of right now anyone who wants is able to call themselves a professional
interior designer.
Not only does this issue personally affect me, but it affects the general public and people
in their everyday lives. This is issue is not well-known enough by the public for people to fully
designer to design any building, putting them in charge of making sure the interior structures of
any building follow things like fire and safety codes, air quality, and toxins that could be life-
threatening if not taken care of properly. This is huge debate going on since the early nineteen
hundred that should be brought to attention and people should become more educated about the
issue, but in the end the interior design profession that should be regulated.
SHOULD INTERIOR DESIGNERS BE REGULATED 7
References
Alexander, Adrienne, Henjum, Jones, Jeremy, et al (2010). Overview and analysis of public
https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/61691/ID_Licensing_Capstone_Pap
er_Final%5B1%5D.pdf;sequence=5.
II Carpenter, Dick M. (2008). How the interior design cartel’s attack on IJ’s designing cartels
content/uploads/2015/03/misinformation-report.pdf.
Guerin, Denise A., Thompson, Jo Ann Asher (2004). An educational transformation, Interior
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1939-1668.2004.tb00396.x.