What is the Difference Between Interior Design and Interior Decorating?
Introduction
When creating or refreshing living spaces, many people ask: what exactly is the difference between interior design and interior decorating? These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they refer to distinct fields with different scopes, skills, and goals. Understanding the difference helps homeowners make informed decisions when hiring professionals, as well as helps anyone interested in pursuing a career in these fields. Interior design involves technical, structural, and functional aspects, while decorating deals primarily with aesthetics and finishing touches. This article explores both, drawing on history, expert sources, real-world practice, and multimedia to provide a clear, in-depth understanding.
Embedded Video Overview
Here’s a helpful video that explains the distinction clearly:
Interior Design vs Interior Decoration (YouTube Explainer)
The Origins and Evolution of Design & Decorating
Interior design has its roots deep in architectural history. Ancient civilizations—such as the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians—paid attention not only to structure and function but to visual harmony, proportion, and environmental comfort. Over time, as buildings evolved in complexity and variety, the role of the interior became more formalized. Structural changes, safety, building codes, ergonomics, and spatial planning became integrated into what we call interior design today.
Interior decorating, in contrast, evolved more from artistic and aesthetic traditions. As societies became more prosperous, especially in Europe and North America during the 18th and 19th centuries, decoration of interiors—fabrics, furniture, art, ornamentation—became a way to display taste, wealth, and style. Its origins are less about technical planning, more about surface beauty.
What is Interior Design?
Definition and Scope
Interior design is both an art and a science: it covers more than decorating. It involves planning and improving interior spaces to make them safe, comfortable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Designers work with clients to understand how spaces will be used, taking into account movement, lighting, acoustics, safety, and regulations.
Interior designers often engage in structural decisions—like moving walls, redesigning room layouts, or adjusting window placement. They collaborate with architects, engineers, and contractors. They also ensure compliance with building codes, accessibility laws, and environmental or sustainability standards.
Education, Credentials, and Standards
Most professional interior designers undergo formal education. For example, according to Architectural Digest and ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), many designers earn bachelor’s or associate degrees from accredited programs. (Architectural Digest) After that, it’s common to gain hands-on experience, then possibly earn certification or licensure, such as through the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification) in the U.S. (Architectural Digest) Designers are expected to maintain ongoing education to keep up with changes in materials, codes, and design science.
Functionality and Technical Aspects
Interior designers focus on how a space works, not just how it looks. They analyze traffic flow, optimize lighting (natural and artificial), address acoustics, select appropriate finishes, and ensure that the interior environment supports human use. For example, in healthcare, educational, or commercial spaces, they ensure safety, accessibility, and welfare of occupants. Lighting calculations, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and ergonomic furniture placement are part of their purview.
What is Interior Decorating?
Definition and Focus
Interior decorating focuses on enhancing a space’s aesthetic appeal through color, furniture, fabrics, artwork, and accessories. Decorators work with existing layouts rather than changing structure. Their role is to bring style, mood, and personality into a space.
Decorators choose finishes and styles, but usually do not intervene in structural changes, electrical wiring, plumbing, or load-bearing aspects. Their work begins after the decisions about layout, safety, and technical components have already been made.
Education and Typical Skills
While formal education for decorators is less rigorous than for designers, many decorators study art, color theory, textile design, furnishings, and trend knowledge. Practical experience and a strong portfolio often matter more than official credentials. Some decorators pursue certifications or workshops in specific style areas, fabric knowledge, or color theory to sharpen their skill set.
Decorators excel in creating the mood of a room, pulling together visual compositions, selecting textures and patterns, choosing accessories, and staging interiors for comfort and style.
Similarities and Overlaps
Shared Knowledge and Visual Sensibility
Both professions require a strong sense of color, proportion, awareness of light and shadow, pattern, texture, and scale. Both decorators and designers need to understand furniture styles, fabric qualities, finishes, and how items relate within a space. The visual composition in many projects will be influenced by both.
When One Becomes the Other
Many interior designers do decorating: after dealing with the functional and structural setup, they often handle the furnishings, finishes, art, and decor to complete the interior. Conversely, decorators sometimes influence minor design decisions (like lighting type, fixture style) or advise on layout without making structural changes. The boundary is fluid in many real projects, depending on client needs and the scope of work.
Expert Insight & Definitions from Authorities
According to the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), designers are tasked with deeper responsibilities than decorators, such as developing functional layouts, addressing safety and health concerns, and ensuring technical standards are met. Decorators primarily handle the finishing touches and aesthetic components. (ASID)
Architectural Digest describes interior designers as professionals who create the “boxes” in which we live—planning foundation, structure, and user experience—while decorators adorn these boxes with finishes, furniture, and decoration. (Architectural Digest)
One useful phrase from multiple sources is: “Interior designers may decorate, but decorators do not design.” This highlights that design includes functionality and technical competence beyond decoration. (Dorothy Parker)
Practical Examples
Imagine you move into a new apartment. If you hire an interior designer, they may begin by evaluating the floor plan, deciding where electrical outlets are, determining how sunlight enters, possibly opening up walls, or designing built-in storage. Once those decisions are made, interior decorating comes in: choosing paint, picking furniture, selecting rugs, arranging artwork, and choosing decorative accessories.
In renovation of a house, you might need designers to reconfigure rooms (e.g. expanding the kitchen, improving circulation), updating plumbing or wiring to accommodate new appliances, ensuring heating/cooling are properly configured. After these technical challenges are resolved, a decorator would refine the final aesthetics.
Why Knowing the Difference Matters
For homeowners, knowing whether you need an interior designer or a decorator saves time and money. Hiring a decorator when structural changes or code compliance are required leads to issues; hiring a designer when you only need visual improvement might lead to higher costs unnecessary for the scope.
For professionals, understanding these differences helps with career planning, choosing proper education, certifications, and clearly defining service offerings and pricing for clients.
Embedded Video: Designer vs Decorator Clarified
Here’s another video that provides a different perspective and uses real-world visuals to show how a decorator and designer operate:
References
- “What is the Difference between a Designer and a Decorator”, ASID. (ASID)
- “What Do Interior Designers Do?”, Architectural Digest. (Architectural Digest)
- Dorothy Parker Design, “What is the Difference Between a Decorator and a Designer?” (Dorothy Parker)
- “Interior Design vs Interior Decorating: The Spruce” (The Spruce)
Conclusion
Interior design and interior decorating both aim to make interiors beautiful and comfortable, yet they serve different roles. Interior design deals with layout, functionality, technical and structural elements, safety, and compliance. Decorating adds the final layer of personality, style, and visual cohesion. While designers often encompass decorating in their work, decorators build upon a foundation designed by experts. Understanding the difference helps homeowners hire the right talent, plan their spaces more effectively, and ensure both function and form are addressed in harmony.
