Handmade 101: 3 things I wish I would have known...

Today's Handmade 101 post is brought to you by Michelle of Wishful Thinking.  Michelle is sharing with us 3 things I wish I would have known....before I became an interior designer.

First of all, I want to thank Gina for letting me guest post. I have been reading her blog ever since I found her darling Etsy shop and can't believe I actually get to be featured on it.


I have always been a know-it-all and at age seven, I knew I wanted to be an interior designer. I was perhaps the most annoying child to play Barbies with. My poor friends would spend hours watching me "set up" the mansion and before we got to play, we'd retreat for dinner. Everywhere I went, my Lisa Frank notebook came with me. It was filled with doodles of furniture sketches and floor plans. Yes, floor plans. I was intrigued with how other people's homes were laid out and would sketch them for comparison. So naturally, when it came time to declare a major for college, it was a no-brainier.


As it turns out, I didn't really know what I was getting in to. Here's what I wish I would have know....

One -  It's a lot of work.

I thought that by choosing a major I loved meant that it would come naturally to me. It was fun, so it had to be easy, right? Wrong. 


Being in studio was like a full-time job and it was only six of my fifteen credits. Studio met for twelve hours week and then there was homework which amounted to another twenty hours. By sophomore year, I realized that I had become a slave to studio. I was also juggling a part-time job and starting up my Etsy shop, bobbins + bits. 


I often had to bail on Friday night parties and miss Saturday football games in order to finish my projects. It wasn't always fun, but it was always worth it.

Two - 90% of the time is spent in front of the computer.

Pop quiz! Who knows the difference between an Interior Designer and an Interior Decorator? I didn't. I thought most of my time would be spent choosing paint colors and picking out fabric swatches. While that is part of it, it is a very, very small part. All of my projects start out with hand sketching. Then, I move to the computer. I use programs like Revit and SketchUp to build the space. Then, the final images are thrown into Photoshop and InDesign.

Three -  Codes, codes, codes

Does your home have stacked plumbing? Is the bathroom located right next to the kitchen? There's a reason for this. There's also a reason why public bathroom stalls are the width they are and there's even a reason why an elementary school has as many water fountains as it does. I won't bore you with the details. Just know that codes greatly affect a designer's decisions.

As it turns out, choosing Interior Design was the right choice. I got lucky, because I was a little misinformed about the field, but it all worked out. I hope you learned a little about design. If you're a designer, just remember, hearing misconceptions from others, gives you a chance to explain to people what you do. 


If you're thinking about getting into the profession, feel free to contact me further if you have any questions; I'd be happy to help!

I blog here. I tweet here. I pin here. I operate here. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much Michelle!  It is so interesting how the reoccurring theme of these "three things I wish I would have know..." posts continues to be about knowing exactly what you are getting yourself involved in.


I think so many of us {myself included!} have romanticized views of what blogging, running a handmade business, designing, etc will be like but there is so much more to it.


Like I said yesterday, it is rewarding work, but can be really hard...and mostly rewarding :).

Click here for more Handmade 101 posts.