DISTINCTION: Interior Roles

The world of design is full of beautiful outcomes—but the job titles behind those outcomes can get confusing. If you're planning a renovation, building from scratch, or simply trying to make an existing space feel like home, understanding the difference between key roles can help you choose the right professional for the job.

Here’s a breakdown of three often-overlapping but distinct roles:

Interior Architectural Designer

Interior architectural designers sit at the intersection of architecture and interiors. They focus on how interior space is formed—not just decorated. This includes spatial planning, partitions, ceiling design, stair integration, millwork, and how one room flows into another. Their work is about the structure of the interior, often addressing circulation, volume, and proportion long before finishes are selected.

This role is essential when a space needs to be fundamentally reimagined from the inside out. They often collaborate closely with architects, especially when interior layout changes affect the shell or function of a building. For complex renovations or builds that require more than surface-level thinking, this is where the process often begins.

Interior Designer

Interior designers step in to shape how a space feels and functions, balancing practicality with atmosphere. While they may not alter core architecture, they work closely with layouts, materials, finishes, lighting, and furnishings—designing environments that support real life.

They can reconfigure space, coordinate with contractors, and create custom solutions that blend aesthetic vision with the rhythms of everyday living. Interior designers are essential when both design detail and usability matter. They often join a project in the planning phase and stay involved through completion.

Decorator

Decorators, by contrast, often begin where others consider the work finished. Their role shines in navigating the immovable elements—walls, windows, awkward proportions—and layering in what brings a room to life: furniture, lighting, textiles, art, and personality.

Decorators are especially valuable when dealing with visual “mistakes,” limitations, or unresolved rooms—those small, oddly shaped, or underwhelming spaces that feel off. Their expertise lies in transformation. They soften architecture, resolve awkwardness, and inject clarity through material and mood.

If the walls are already in place—but the space feels rigid, empty, or disconnected—this is precisely when a decorator can be most impactful. The Room Interior Design service reflects this role: furnishing, styling, and thoughtfully reimagining existing spaces to feel whole, intentional, and expressive.

In the project On the Shores of Light, There Is Darkness; On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light, a triangular-shaped studio defied traditional layouts. A sofa wouldn’t work—so a canoe was placed instead. Sculptural and functional, it reframed the room with elegance and wit. That’s the work of decoration at its best: inventive, expressive, and spatially intuitive.

Which One Do You Need?

• Reworking structure or rethinking spatial flow?
  → An ARCHITECTURAL INTERIOR DESIGN service offers schematic design, permitting documentation, and technical collaboration for renovations and new builds.

• Designing for functionality, materials, and lifestyle?
  → A FULL INTERIOR DESIGN service provides concept-to-installation support, including layout planning, curated finishes, and furnishings.

• Transforming an existing space, correcting quirks, or making it feel like home?
  → ROOM INTERIOR DESIGN is ideal for those “what do I do with this room?” moments—bringing clarity, style, and a sense of purpose to spaces with limitations or awkward proportions.

Still unsure which direction to take—or where your project fits? A 1-HOUR INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION can help clarify your goals, identify the right path, and give you confidence to move forward.