Published on: Apr 19, 2020
Interior design and build is all about conceptualising and crafting spaces, taking full advantage of the space available and creating beautiful, elaborate, elegant spaces.
However, when renovating a room or a building, the most important aspect for both designers and homeowners to think about is its purpose; every room has a purpose, and every design decision you make should help to fulfil this purpose.
The purpose will also change how a design project is approached. By looking at each decision with the end goal in mind you can create some truly staggering and effective designs.
What Is The Purpose Of Interior Design?
Whilst there are many different specialities and differences in approach, budget, luxury focus and other decisions that affect the final design, most interior designers can be separated into working on either commercial facilities or residential homes.
Both interior design specialisations are built around creating a space that is enjoyable to be in but they have very different audiences and purposes.
A residential interior designer wants to capture and actualise a homeowner’s vision, transforming their existing space into one that is welcoming, comfortable and pleasant to live in.
Commercial interior designers, on the other hand, focus more on customer experience and functionality, as the people who will use a commercial establishment usually do not own nor live in the building.
This can include creating functional, yet comfortable office space that can help staff to focus on work but also feel comfortable included and part of a team, or building a library which is a vast storage of books that needs to be functionally effective but also help people read and study.
It is important to bear in mind, however, that rooms in homes also have purposes, especially with 40 per cent of staff working from home.
The design needs for different rooms can be very different, particularly if the room has a particular utilitarian purpose. For example, whilst there are many ways to design a beautiful kitchen, they need to have space for appliances, work surfaces and storage for cooking utensils.
The home office, more than any other room, blurs these two interior design specialisations, as it is a room where every design decision and purpose used for most other rooms in a home are completely inverted.
The home office needs to be functional yet personal and is designed more for function than any other room in your home. This can include adding soundproofing, a screen or a door to add privacy, a functional desk and chair, as well as lighting that helps improve focus.
For most rooms in a home, lighting is at a fairly low temperature, which makes the room feel cosier and the light warmer. This helps us relax and unwind, and is why most bedroom and living room lamps are at a relatively low colour temperature.
Offices on the other hand need much brighter, higher temperature lights which are not only required for some jobs but also help us to focus better on a task at hand.
