Dramz...

Oh the drama of enacting legislation for the licensing interior design professionals in Michigan....

Today, this article was published in the State News and I was so glad to finally see something about us in there!

But, unfortunately, I became aware of the online version of the article and the horrible comments some ignorant and un-educated people were leaving.

As you can see, many of my friends, classmates, and even my awesome supportive boyfriend came to the rescue by defending the American Society of Interior Designers via comments!  I want to thank them and I also want to urge anyone else who feels that the licensing bills should be passed to voice your opinion and show support by posting a comment!

For those who don't know, here's why we need to pass bills HB4770, HB4771, and HB4772;

• Any individual in Michigan can claim to be an interior designer, even if they are not educated and trained.
• Some building officials reject construction documents (for things like removing walls) prepared by interior designers because the IBC only recognizes architects and engineers as "registered design professionals" authorized to perform services that interior designers who graduated from accredited programs are educated to perform.
• In Michigan, 15 colleges/universities have accredited programs that train interior designers.  Without interior design licensing, our education goes virtually unrecognized and we may need to leave Michigan in order to find work in our chosen field.
• These bills will protect consumers from unqualified practitioners, protect the right to practice the profession in Michigan, define the services interior designers can provide, and safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

We are interior designers, not interior decorators!  We are educated on fire and building codes and standards, ways of egress, ADA accessibility issues, problem solving, lighting, autoCAD, correct drafting standards, and much more on top of design principles and color theory!

For more information, please check out;

the Coalition for Interior Design Registration (CIDR) this site can inform you even more about why we need legislation and how you can help!  They make it super easy to get involved by providing sample letters that you can e-mail or mail to your legislator (you can even copy & paste, it's really that easy!)

the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) this site also provides additional information!

Help us out!

(Pictured above: MSU-ASID Student Board)