Interior designers are getting a lot of attention lately.
With a growing number of designers leaving their jobs and becoming interior designers themselves, some are wondering how the industry has become so saturated with so many designers.
One designer said he is worried about the direction of the industry.
“There are a lot more designers today than there used to be,” said Joe Hynes, who is a longtime interior designer.
“It’s not like it was a few decades ago when there were a lot less.”
Hynes said there are now over 200 interior designers in the United States, compared to just eight in 1980.
“When I started doing this, I thought it was going to be a one-off thing,” he said.
“But I’m not sure I’m wrong.”
Hines said there is a strong trend toward designers taking on more interior design projects than ever before.
“There’s a new trend among designers, a new way of working, a way of thinking,” he explained.
“They are finding that they can get a bigger budget than they would have done 10 years ago.”
Hanes said that in the past he has seen designers become so comfortable working with clients and clients become so used to them that they just stop paying attention to what they’re doing.
“It’s a little like having your own personal chef,” he laughed.
Hynes is concerned about the trend in the industry and the industry as a whole.
“I’ve been in the business 30 years and I can honestly say I haven’t seen a more successful industry than it is today,” he continued.
“I think the trend is pretty dangerous.”
Hilton said he thinks the industry is moving away from a creative mindset, towards a “business” mentality.
“You’ve got designers who are just selling themselves and a very small group of clients, which is very different than an interior designer,” he told The Next W. “So, you can see the whole industry as being more business than design.”
For the average home owner, designers and interior designers working together are a good fit.
Hynes said that he thinks that the industry can thrive as a new type of creative collaboration.
“If you look at the last few years, the design industry has been in a great way.
I think that, right now, we are still in a creative moment,” he concluded.