Design & Decoration

Hello, everyone! This discussion will be over my opinion on the connection between Interior Design and decorating. Personally, I believe that designing and decorating are on two separate playing fields: designers have to learn how to problem solve and understand functionality for the client while decorators think about only personal aesthetic.
   In the "I'm Not a Decorator" article over Florence Knoll, I read about how she felt about interior design vs. decorating, and she made so many strong points. One main point that stuck with me is that decorators kind of think about themselves (and I compare them to artists in this way) and what they want to see, while designers think about the client and what they asked for. There's a big difference between the two, yet they're still constantly confused with each other. Makes literally NO sense to me.
   Now, I can understand how some aspects are similar. For instance, decorators deal with the objects in a room, like the furniture and the wall decorations; interior designers also work with furniture. However, different thoughts go into how the space is set up. For a decorator, they'll pick whatever furniture looks the best to make it look "pretty." On the other hand, we have designers who can literally CREATE their own furniture that can have multiple functions. In the video we had to watch where in showed one of the Knoll showrooms during NeoCon 2016, and I'm pretty sure I saw a couch that could turn into a room divider for privacy. How freaking cool is that?! That, my friend, is interior designing (aka PROBLEM SOLVING).
   After understanding the difference between decorating and designing, I kind of enjoyed being able to look back at the past few lectures and think about whether it was designed or decorated. I feel like the Greeks and Romans were more decorators since they were so dramatic with how they wanted to portray their lives, and then the cathedrals seemed more designed since they had intricate detailing that carried a lot of symbolism. I'm honestly hoping to make more connections like this in the coming unit when we talk about different furnishings.