Interior Design Fundamentals

Learn Interior Design

LEARN TO APPLY KEY PRINCIPLES TO ACIEVE GREAT DESIGN

Design choices should be guided by key principles including functionality, aesthetics, and costs. Property owners and users will always have different views on what principles are important, for instance:

• The same painting might be loved by one person and hated by another.
• One person might prefer cool colours whilst another prefers warm colours.
• One person might prefer a contemporary feel to a room, whilst another may want a boutique or vintage feel to a room.

When dealing with a client, the first task is to determine their preferences. A designer’s job at that stage is to –
1. Get to know the client.
2. Ask lots of questions to find out what the client likes and doesn’t like, the purpose of the space you are designing for etc.
3. Establish brief guidelines on which to base a design.
4. Present appropriate options for consideration.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Scope and Nature of Interior Design
   • Introductory Considerations
   • Interior Designers & Skills Required
   • History of Interior Design
   • Popular Styles
   • Trends
   • Decorating with Colour
   • Decorating with Texture
   • Wabi-sabi
   • Decorating with Pattern
   • Decorating with Artwork
   • Decoration with Features
   • Principles
   • Other Influential Design Components
2. Choosing Components
   • Introduction
   • Paints
   • Hard Materials. metal etc - glass, masonry, polymers, stone, tiles, plasterboard
   • Floor Treatments
   • Finishes
   • Soft Materials and Accessories
   • Choosing Furnishings
   • Window Coverings
   • Design Brief
   • Preparing Colour Samples and Materials Boards
   • Preserving Nature in Interior Design
   • Indoor/Outdoor Rooms and Spaces
   • Using and Placing Indoor Plants
3. Choosing Services
   • Introduction
   • Types of Services -electricity, gas, water, telecommunications
   • Heating and Cooling
   • Managing Heat Transfer
   • Heating Options
   • Hot Water Systems
   • Lighting
   • Ambient Lighting
   • Task Lighting
   • Accent Lighting
   • Electrical Outlets & Light Switches
   • Telephone and Internet
   • Water Supply
   • Other Services
   • Smart Building Solutions
   • Robots for Cleaning
   • Collaboration in Creative Processes
   • On site Safety
4. Redesigning an Old Building
   • Ethics and Legalities
   • Ethics of Building Preservation
   • What is Regulated
   • Planning Consent
   • Heritage and Conservation Areas
   • Evaluating the Site
   • Creativity
   • Determining a Client Goals
   • Changes? - Restoration, Renovation or Design
   • Redecoration
   • Reorganisation/Altering Space
   • Drawing Floor Plans
5. Designing a New Building
   • Role of a Designer
   • Colour and Aesthetics
   • Physical Features
   • Practical Features
   • Luxury Features and Quality
   • Resources
   • Structures -considering size, level, straightness, type of materials
   • Sound and sound proofing
   • Acoustic Panels
   • Properties of Different Materials - Thermal, Electrical, Environmental, Economic, etc
   • Technology in Design
   • Sensors and Robotics in New Home Design
   • Design Simulation
   • CAD Design Process
6. Altering Spaces
   • Working with a Brief
   • Spatial Awareness
   • Photos, Sketches, Accurate Measurements
   • Levelling
   • Using Computer Software
   • Spatial Planning
   • Use of Space - storage, work, social, private
   • Design Considerations - axis lines, focal points
   • Creating Flow
   • Creating Specific Areas
   • Using Views
   • Functionality, Proportion, Scale
   • The Kitchen Triangle Design
   • Altering Existing Spaces -Extensions, Conversions
   • Recreating Original Styles
   • Workplace Interiors.
7. Organising the Interior
   • Introduction
   • Design Decisions for Organising Space - Harmony, unity, balance, scale, proportion, rythm, contrast, details
   • Reorganisation
   • Temporary or Permenant Change
   • Creating Ambience
   • Reorganising Furnishings
   • Maximising Use of Space -Decluttering, distancing, space saving furniture, using smaller items, using walls, visual effects
   • Storage Example - Butlers pantry
   • Creating Open Plan Spaces
8. Designing for Health & Wellbeing
   • Introduction
   • Interior Materials for Better Health - paints, natural paint
   • Managing Bacteria, Rots, other Biological Hazards
   • Adhesives, Fabrics
   • Feng Shui
   • Biophilic Design
   • Green Design
   • Ergonomics
   • The Psychology of Interior Design
9. Budgeting
   • Budgeting Priorities, Timing, Feasibility
   • Managing a Project
   • Implementing an Operational Plan
   • Controlling a Project
   • Creating a GANTT Chart
   • Critical Path Analysis
   • Invoicing
   • Bad Debts
10. Special Project
    • Four parts to this project
    • Choose a room to design
    • Research design considerations
    • Prepare a design
    • Report on your design

Aims

• Describe different styles of interior design and their relationship to aesthetic and functional criteria, relative to varied historical and cultural contexts.
• Discuss options and criteria used to choose the components used in an interior design including furnishings, wall and floor treatments, colour choices and decoration.
• Determine services to be incorporated into an interior and where to install them.
• Determine options for interior improvements in an old interior and compare the possibilities.
• Determine options for interior development of a new interior and compare the possibilities.
• Explain how spatial awareness and spatial planning skills can be used to alter spaces.
• Explain how an interior might be improved by reorganisation of the components that already exist.
• Explain how an interior can be designed to more conducive to the wellbeing of the occupants.
• Prepare a budget for an Interior Design
• Create a design for two rooms.