Learn the skills and concepts you will need to become a Kitchen and Bath Designer. The page below lists schools and colleges that offer excellent programs and degrees in Kitchen and Bath Design. Study basic design, drawing, plumbing and lighting designs that will train you to be a success in the Kitchen and Bath Design Industry.

by Lance Filbert
lance.filbert@interiordesignschools.net
Interior Decorating Schools Columnist

The way to get those interior designer jobs and, if I may add a crass, commercial note, earn that interior designer salary, is to come up with ideas that your clients like and can use. Sometimes, clients want their interior decorator to be a professional organizer as well as a designer. You have to get through the clutter in their lives before you can create a design.

Almost every interior designer I know has a story or two - or even ten - about clients whose houses are filled with odds and ends that they don't want to throw out. You may be a graduate of the New York School of Interior Design or any one of the other top interior design schools, but you can't do a clever design until you move the junk out of the way.

One of the things I learned from one of my teachers is, "it's not junk if you display it." That's right, instead of trying to hide the client's collection of painted turtle shells or toy cars with wheels missing or report cards from kindergarten to graduate school, show it.

Tips from Lance

• Create a wall display with odd and mismatched items. Put the largest things in the middle and then fill in the spaces with smaller and smaller items.
  
• Use shadow boxes for displaying small objects. Does your client insist on keeping all those seashells or match boxes? Hang a shadow box or printer's type box on the wall and fill the spaces with the items.
  
• You can display old postcards, wine labels, or faded photographs under a sheet of thick glass that covers an ordinary tabletop.

One last tip: Never use the word junk when talking to your clients. For them, all that junk is treasure.

About the Author
Lance Filbert is known for his witty and innovative design ideas. He has an extensive arts background and has an arts degree from the City University of New York. He lives in San Francisco with his partner, Bertram, and their cairn terriers, Toto and Toklas.

Posted on May 18, 2005 at 05:34 PM