Meet HGTV, The Fairy Godmother of Interior Design

            We have all heard of HGTV if not watched an episode here and there, but do we ever stop and think if what you we are watching is actually real? I can’t sit here and say one negative thing after the other about the shows on HGTV because I’m pretty sure it was that exact channel that sparked my interest in interior design when I was younger. When I was younger and much more naïve I would watch these shows and think how fun and “easy” interior design was, and how “quick” you could re decorate someone’s entire home. The point that I am trying to get at is that many people who are naïve and oblivious to what the profession of Interior Design is do think that it is a “quick” and “easy” profession and that anyone can do it.

            I really do feel that as entertaining as the shows on HGTV might be sometimes they put off the wrong message about interior designers. On most of the shows on HGTV the designer will come in and instantly produce a beautiful rendering of the space to be redesigned as if by magic. The designer will already have the design crew picked out and the furniture ready to be shipped in a matter of hours. In the real world this is by no means possible, and is the exact reason why I think many people expect an interior designer to just instantly produce a design concept for them and have it done within a matter of days.

            HGTV does not show the weeks of hard work that an interior designer has to put in to the project just to gather a few simple components for their client. We as designers are not fairy godmothers and cannot magically turn a pumpkin of a home into a beautiful horse drawn carriage with the wave of our tape measure. As much as I do wish this was true and possible it isn’t. People need to start understanding that all they see on TV is not true and there is a lot more hard work and labor that goes into their beautiful homes and surroundings.