The terms "Interior Decorator" and "Interior Designer" are often used interchangeably, as if they were identical professions. While both may have the talent and ability to create beautiful rooms, the two are not synonymous.

Interior Designer
The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) defines an Interior Designer as one who "is professionally trained to create a functional and quality interior environment. Qualified through education, experience, and examination, a professional designer can identify, research and creatively resolve issues and lead their client to a healthy, safe, and comfortable physical environment." At it's heart, interior design is the art and science of understanding people's behavior in order to create functional spaces within the structures that architects design.

Interior Designers are responsible for a wide variety of tasks including; organizing a space to suit it's function, making sure that the designs match compliance with building codes and safety codes, and managing the construction and installation of a design. The designer also is responsible for selecting and specifying fixtures, furnishings, products, materials and colors, but that is just one of many responsibilities.

Interior Designers are also - in some, but not all states - required to have a license, acquired by completing the NCIDQ exam. This licensing certifies that the designer is a qualified professional who has the background and schooling required to make complex decisions about interior spaces.

Interior Decorators
Interior Decorators are primarily concerned with surface decorations - paint, fabric, furnishings, lighting and other materials. Decoration is often characterized as the furnishing or adorning of a space, often fashionable or attractive, things.

Although Interior Designers do all of the same tasks as an Interior Decorator, an Interior Designer typically has a number of other issues to be responsible for. When it comes to floor coverings, an Interior Decorator appropriately chooses the color, pattern, texture and style. An Interior Designer is not only responsible for all those items, they are also responsible for choosing the appropriateness of usage, sound transferrance, acoustic properties, flammability, off-gassing properties, static electricity requirements, and flammability.

Separating the Two
Interior Designers and Interior Decorators both hold important jobs, but to confuse the two is a disservice to both professions. So next time you see your Interior Designer or Interior Decorator, make sure you address them by the appropriate title, they will thank you!