Q. What are the differences between interior architecture, design, and decorating within residential design?

A. Interior architecture focuses on the functional aspects of a project and encompasses structural and building system integration, space planning, and building codes. Interior design coordinates the aesthetic elements built into a space, including fixtures and finishes like countertops, cabinetry, flooring, lighting, and plumbing hardware. Interior decorating would encompass all the nonfixed things that would fall out if you flipped a house upside down and shook it, such as furniture, artwork, and accessories. All three disciplines require a balance of technical and creative thinking to meet a client’s budget, schedule, and aesthetic goals. A skilled architect or interior designer could perform all three of these functions on a project, depending on their background and credentials.

Q. Why is it important to start thinking about interior design early in architectural planning?

A. The greatest benefit to early integration of interior design is flexibility in deciding what features to include in your home. Once a product or material is chosen, the architectural design can account for its size, placement, and interactions with the details around it. Necessary adjustments in structural, electrical, or mechanical systems can be made on paper before issues arise during construction, allowing selections to be harmonized with one another so they look and function as intended. Waiting to finalize interior details may limit what designs are possible, cause schedule delays, or add unnecessary costs. Waiting also makes contractors miserable!

Q. What interior elements should be considered early in the architectural design process?

A. As soon as you start to think about how big a room will be, identify your priorities for the space so the architecture can respond to them. This may be accommodations for special kitchen amenities, integration of built-ins and storage, showcasing a specific piece of art, or even fitting existing furniture. Common details that cause mayhem during construction if not planned in advance include motorized window treatments that need in-wall wiring, recessed and LED lighting with large drivers to conceal, downdraft cooking hoods that require unique venting conditions, and linear floor drains that must be reconciled with floor framing heights. Purely aesthetic decisions like paint and grout color are typically less risky to save for the final stages of design.

Q. How can sustainability help inform decisions around selections?

A. What we put in our homes can affect our health and have further impact on climate, local economies, the environment, and social equity. Sustainable selections consider a product or material’s composition, origin, durability, and recyclability once no longer in use. When sourcing responsibly made fixtures and finishes, check for features like low- to no-VOC emissions (or UL Greenguard certification), reclaimed and recycled content, FSC chain-of-custody wood, and Red List-free products. Some manufacturers release Declare labels, Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), or Health Product Declarations (HPDs) that outline a product’s “ingredients,” lifecycle assessment, potential health hazards, and other transparency disclosures. Choosing local vendors and locally made products is a great way to reduce the carbon impact of a project.