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Designers Edge Out Decorators
ASID study: Consumers are very satisfied working with an interior designer.

Homeowners who have worked with an interior designer on a home design or remodeling project are highly satisfied with the services they received, according to a recent telephone survey conducted for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Washington, DC, and released in June. Nearly nine out of 10 (88 percent) participants in the survey who worked with a designer within the previous two years said they were “very satisfied” with the results, with more than half (54 percent) indicating they were “extremely satisfied.”

Participants also were much more likely to choose an interior designer to assist with their residential project than an architect, kitchen and bath specialist or decorator, by almost two to one.

“Creative problem solving, informed by knowledge and experience, is the value-add that interior designers bring to the consumer,” says ASID President Anita Baltimore, FASID. “The new ASID study shows that most homeowners who work with interior designers recognize the value of their services once they see the results. The Society hopes the findings will encourage more consumers to consult a designer when they are planning design or remodeling projects for their homes.”

MORE HOMEOWNERS SEEK
PROFESSIONAL HELP

While the survey showed that the majority of homeowners (49 percent) prefer to do their own decorating or remodeling work, use of interior design services appears to be increasing. Drawing on its market research and other data, ASID reported in 1997 that consumer use of interior design services was limited almost exclusively to households with an annual income of $70,000 or higher.

At that time, only six percent of the U.S. population fit that demographic, and by ASID estimates, only four percent of households in that income range had ever hired an interior designer. In the new survey, 14 percent of the participants had worked with an interior designer in the previous two years, a considerable increase over previous estimates.

The survey did not document the reasons for this increase, but it does coincide with the substantial growth in household income and home value during the same time period, as well as the booming interest in home design.

According to the new ASID survey, consumers of interior design services were more likely to be female (64 percent) than male (36 percent), to be between the ages of 35 and 65, to have lived in their homes for five or more years, and to reside in a home that is more than 10 years old and smaller than 7,000 square feet. They are just as likely to have incomes between $75,000 and $125,000 as between $200,000 to $400,000. The largest group (34 percent) had annual household incomes between $125,000 and $200,000. Those living in the Northeast region (35 percent) were about twice as likely to use an interior designer as were those living in other parts of the United States.

The most common projects for which a designer was hired were to remodel or redecorate a kitchen or bath, a living or family room, or bedroom. Almost one-fourth (23 percent) of those who hired an interior designer completely remodeled or redecorated an entire home, compared to about one-fifth (19 percent) of those who did not.

The most frequently mentioned responsibilities for the designers on these projects were space planning or arranging (67 percent), consultation for aesthetic advice (56 percent), selecting furniture or other products (49 percent), improving functionality (39 percent), remodeling (33 percent), and managing the project (30 percent).

ABOUT THE SURVEY

To learn more about the market for interior design services in the home design and remodeling boom, ASID commissioned the telephone survey of homeowners who had remodeled or redecorated their homes within the past five years or planned to do so in the next two years about the services they used or intend to use, if any. The sample was drawn so as to divide respondents into a roughly equal number of three annual household income groupings: $75,000 up to $125,000, $125,000 up to $200,000, and $200,000 and higher.

Respondents also were sampled to represent each of the five major regions of the United States, both genders and various age ranges from 23 to 75 or older. Copies of the report, Consumer Use of Design Services, can be downloaded from the ASID Web site at www.asid.org.

ASID is a community of designers, industry representatives, educators and students committed to interior design. Through education, knowledge sharing, advocacy, community building and outreach, the Society strives to advance the interior design profession and to positively change people’s lives. It has more than 36,000 members in 48 chapters throughout the United States and Canada.