my absence? That this site is languishing?

Well it is. 

It turns out that 24-hours in a day is not really enough for all I’m tying to do if I want to sleep a few hours every once in a while.

I haven’t given up on Inspired Spaces, but I’ve had to put it aside for a while.  Earlier in the spring, I had bandwidth issues because my picture files were too big, so I had to remove them from the site.  Now I have to resize them and take down the resolution and put them back up.  And all that takes time that I don’t have right now.  In addition to that, I’ve got an Antique Mommy-related writing project that is due in mid-June that I’m focused on.  I’m anxious to share that with you when the time is right.

If you sent in a design question, it’s still in my file.  I have not forgotten about you.  And hope you will not forget about me.  Keep me in your Bloglines or Google Reader and some day soon I’ll be back to wow you with another exciting paint dilemma.

In the meantime, keep working on making your home a beautiful shelter and respite from the world and a comfortable and welcoming place for those you love.  There really is no place like home.

Peace and grace to y’all and I’ll see you here one day soon!

One Sunday morning about a week ago, I was sitting at my desk thinking about how much I miss talking about design and being around homes that are being built and working on design issues.  So I said to myself, “Hey! I know! I’ll start a design blog and I’ll talk about design stuff there and maybe someone else will want to talk about design too!”

So being the methodical planning spreadsheet kind of gal that I am not, I punched a few buttons and voila! I had a design blog.  I figured a few of y’all might write in asking a paint question or two, but goodnight! By the end of the day my mailbox was bursting at the seams. 

I am a) thrilled and b) overwhelmed.  I have enough questions and pictures to keep me busy until this time next year. And might I say here what a privilege it is to get to peek in your windows and chime in on your design projects? It is, truly.

So then, if I don’t respond to your email personally, please don’t get your feelings hurt. I read every email, and if your question is focused and concise I can usually dash off a quick response, but I just can’t get to everyone – what with a family that likes to be fed and wear clean clothes.  But I will do my best.

~ Antique Mommy, Inspired Spaces Headquarters

Motomom writes, “My 13-year-old daughter would like to be an interior designer when she grows up. What classes would you suggest to help her attain this goal? She is currently in eighth grade and next year when she enters high-school she will need to choose an area of focus. She attends a magnet academy focused on the arts. She has access to drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, graphic design, theatre design, mixed media, photography, etc.”

* * * * *

Hi Motomom! Great question and one that I get asked all the time.

It sounds like your daughter is on the right track at this point. All of those classes that you mentioned are fundamental to understanding design in all its many forms. Additionally, she’ll need to take as many math, business and computer courses as possible.

Beyond that, when she starts looking at colleges, she needs to make sure that whatever school she settles on offers an accredited interior design program. I have a friend whose daughter earned a bachelors degree in Interior Design only to find out that it was not an accredited program which excluded her from attaining membership in ASID (American Society of Interior Designers). 

ASID is the governing entity of the design business and without the ASID credential, it can be difficult to establish yourself as an interior designer and to gain access to markets and other professional privileges. It would be like a lawyer trying to set up a practice without having passed the BAR exam. Having said that, in some states, you can simply print up some business cards and call yourself a designer, which is what I did, but I wouldn’t recommend it — although there are many successful non-ASID designers in the world.

Back in the olden days, interior design programs were usually part of the art schools, but these days they are generally (not always) associated with the schools of architecture. The programs are space planning and CAD (Computer Assisted Design) intensive and include many hours of business.

All that to say, if you are interested in pursuing a degree in interior design thinking that you will be spending four years looking at fabric swatches and fluffing pillows, you would be wrong.   On the whole, in the past ten years or so, the field of design is being taken much more seriously, the educational and licensing requirements are becoming more stringent, which ulitmately is good for designers and the industry.

Good luck to your future designer!  I’ll be looking for her on HGTV!

Did you know that in my previous life I did interior design work?   It’s true.  And I loved it. It was the most fun thing I ever did.  I worked with some really wonderful builders who build high-end homes.  My job was to make the 52,000 design decisions from roofing materials to hardware finishes. And to make sure that a peach sink wasn’t installed when I had ordered “biscuit” because biscuits are not peach, now are they?

Then I had a baby.  That was four years ago.  After Sean came along, I continued with my design work, but I found that being chronically exhausted and taking a toddler with me to a construction site made it somewhat less fun.  Okay, a whole lot less fun.  Picking wet drywall out of your child’s hair and mouth is not that much fun.  But more fun than telling the sheet rock guy he’s got a repair to make.  That and looking at paint swatches at 2am, my only free time.  But I still love design and will return to it some day.

I called my company Inspired Spaces.  Until Sean is older, this space here will be my Inspired Spaces, where I will talk about interior design – how to get that high-end look on a low-end budget, your design dilemmas, getting a house ready for market, managing your relationship with your builder or contractor, inspired new products on the market for your house and all things related to home design. 

If you have a design question, send it to am@antiquemommy.com and I’ll answer it here!