Why Does Interior Design Matter?

All photos are from the 2013 Bellarmine Designer's Show House [source]

Why does interior design matter? Or better yet...does it even matter at all? Both of these questions are opinions but, in my opinion, the answer is yes. For example, people spend 90% of their time indoors (“Overview”). The choices designers make could seriously affect the health of those who use the building. That fact alone means that the design of a building and interior design, do matter. 

To begin on the question of how interior design ties into service, one must begin with why giving back is important in the first place. Again, this could be an opinion but I believe that we are called to help those around us. Everybody lives in some type of community and it seems as this community, one would want to make the community as a whole better. This can be, in part, achieved by helping those in need. 

The idea of helping as a community can be achieved if everyone would take the opportunity to contribute in a way that would best utilize their talent. As designers, this means using our creative skill set in a way that can benefit others. One of the obvious ways to do this is through construction projects, such as Habitat for Humanity. However, one example that I chose to highlight in this paper is the Bellarmine University Women’s Council Designers’ Show House, which I believe is a creative way that designers in Louisville, Kentucky are able to give back.

Every year, one house in Louisville is selected to be the Bellarmine University Women’s Council Designers’ Show House. This house is transformed by over 30 of the top local designers, who each decorate one room. The house is then open to the public for exhibition. All of the proceeds from the admissions are given to the Student Aid Fund at Bellarmine University, a local private college. Over the 39 years that this event has been put on, it has raised more than 1.5 million dollars for the scholarship [source].

In my opinion, the Bellarmine Show House is a creative idea that the community has developed to benefit local students. For obvious reasons, the event is beneficial in that it helps raise money to help underprivileged students and it is always good to give unselfishly. However, there may be other added benefits to service projects. For example, all of the furniture in the homes is available for purchase which could create added sales. Additionally, these rooms can help make designers’ names and styles more well known with the public. Also, service can help cast a designer or company into a positive light.

In conclusion, I believe that it is important for everyone to make an effort to give back in some way. There are creative opportunities for people to serve in an area that highlights their talent and all of these little projects can contribute to a larger whole of making a community a better place for everyone.