The difference between interior design and interior decoration

By Michael Jumba

Interior design is a societal activity that brings people together, allows them to interact and communicate their ideas more effectively and share their interests in a creative way. However, every so often, interior design is confused for interior decoration. Other times, individuals have erroneously ended up using these two terms in the same sentence assuming they represent the same thing.

Interior design and interior decoration are two different and distinct professions that are mutually supportive. Interior design is the science and art that involves studying people’s behaviour in order to create functional spaces in interiors of buildings. Interior decoration on the other hand involves the furnishing or adorning of interior spaces of buildings with beautiful objects that could either be fashionable or have other aesthetic significance.

While interior designers may engage in decorative works, interior decorators do not engage in design works. Interior designers apply creative thinking combined with a broad range of factors such safety, ergonomics among other technical solutions within interior spaces to make these spaces liveable, besides being attractive and more functional.

In doing their interior design work, designers need to make sure their designs are in harmony with the structure of the building, they abide by the available building code (2009) abide by OSHA 2007, their designs consider fire safety, their designs are environmentally sound and above all, are user-friendly. Other factors often considered are social factors, security and physical location of a project. Interior decoration on the other hand starts at creativity and ends at decoration of interior spaces.

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