A Brief on Interior Design

Interior Design is a relatively young and rapidly growing industry but is origins are dated back to the 1720s in Western Europe.

In the beginning Interior Design was performed by men capable of performing various tasks due to the fact that these men had to take charge of a whole interior, selecting the furniture, hanging paintings and even taking care of the internal architecture, William Kent as history painter at the time is often cited as the first interior designer in history.

Enough history for now, as mentioned earlier the interior design industry in growing rapidly and figures are rising every year. In the US the interior design industry had revenue of $11,108 million in 2007 with a revenue growth of .6% with over 80 thousand establishments and more than 70 thousand enterprises recorded.

In order to become a professional interior designer you will have to do one of many interior design courses available and specialize in one or more particular interior design disciplines, such as commercial and residential design.

Other disciplines include: function, structure, specialized performance, special groups needs, computer technology, craft skills, social disciplines, professional disciplines, aesthetic disciplines and cultural disciplines.

Interior decoration has become so popular that there are many television programs about it, in the UK there are two popular ones, one is BBC's Changing Rooms and the other is Channel 4's Selling Houses, these programs feature the works of two famous interior designers, Linda Barker and Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen.

In the USA there many TV programs about interior design and interior decoration, the TLC Network airs a popular program called Trading Spaces, a show with a format similar to the UK program Changing Rooms. In addition, both Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and the Discovery Home networks also televise many programs about interior design and decorating, featuring the works of a variety of interior designers, decorators and home improvement experts in a myriad of projects.