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Should interior designers be licensed? The question is being debated among a Pennsylvania House panel on whether to require interior designers to get licensed in the state.
Nevada, Florida, and Louisiana currently are the only states that require such a license.
The Pennsylvania bill, if passed, would require interior designers to hold at least a bachelor’s degree from an approved program, have two years of professional experience, and pass the National Council for Interior Design Qualification exam or an equivalent test.
The license requirement would apply to interior designers who work closely with architects and would not apply to those who work as decorators or kitchen and bath remodelers. Stagers who are prepping a home for sale, therefore, would not be mandated to be licensed.
However, “those not in the ‘elite’ category could be referred to as unregulated and therefore considered as unprofessional, demoting us in the eyes of the public,” Nancy LeRoy, president of Special Spaces in Mechanicsburg, told The Patriot-News about her concerns regarding the proposed bill (Read: Interior Designers Clash Over Licensing).
On the other hand, Gavriella Fiedler, president of Interior Dimensions in Harrisburg, told The Patriot-News she was in favor of the licensing requirement for interior designers. “Without a license, anyone who has a good flair for putting colors and furniture arrangements together can call themselves a designer,” Fiedler told The Patriot-News. “I shouldn’t have to compete for the same small piece of the pie in the same geographic area with someone who hasn’t had any formal training.”
What do you think? Do you think more states should adopt a license requirement for the interior design field? And do you think such bills should go even further? For example, several great training and certification programs exist for the home staging business. Should stagers be mandated too?
