Q & A on Becoming a Designer (Kitchen or Otherwise)

Below is an email I received from Yahoo Answers where I sometimes lurk and post answers:

At 10:01 PM 7/23/2009, you wrote:
Subject: Interior Design Complications

Q.
Message: Hi my name is Savannah. I was looking up some answers to interior design when i came across yours and you said you were a designer of some sort. I would like some advice if that's OK.

I'm 18. I live in Sacramento, and I really want to become a interior designer. But it seems like what I want to do more is be an interior decorator. I'm not sure what the difference is.

Also I am enrolled at American River College for the fall and trying to get into the Art Institute of Sacramento, but there are some things I hear about private schools that get me confused on what I should do?

Should I go to AI and take the courses for my major which are hands on but pay back around 60 to maybe 70 thousand dollars; or go to community college for two years then transfer to a UC?

Also is being a interior designer a family oriented job? I really want to have a family and also have a good job (interior design) but I don't want to live that life where you move because your job demands it.

I am really stumped at the moment and kind of freaking out because I originally wanted my college plan all laid out before I started, you know? I sense you're in the same area of interest that I want to be in. I could really use your advice.

Sorry for the long message. If you can give me any direction I will really appreciate it

Savannah

Hi Savannah,

I'm a Certified Kitchen Designer.
I have been in "the business" for 26 years, but never really went to college to learn my craft. Would you believe I actually went to college to become a nurse?

When I started working in kitchen and bath design there really weren't any schools teaching the discipline. I learned on the job.

As a certified designer (by the National Kitchen & Bath Association - NKBA), I am required to take a defined number of hours of continuing education courses annually to maintain my certification. It is necessary to educate and re-educate myself just to keep up with the many changes in my industry.

Nowadays, most new interior designers DO go to college to learn the basics of design and how it is documented and governed by the cities, counties and states we work in.

There is a lot to learn:

Professional interior design encompasses furnishings and fittings in commercial buildings, like office buildings and hotels. The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) pretty much sets the standards for commercial interior design with their NCIDQ examinations. Designers who pass those (very difficult) exams get to use the designation ASID or FASID after their names. Students who wish to become commercial interior designers really must go to college to learn what they need to know to specify furnishings and carpeting, etc., that will pass fire and egress codes in commercial buildings.

Kitchen and bath designers are also interior designers. We work on mostly residential structures. We also design in commercial buildings when we do residential condos in high rise building, for instance. As a result we need to know a great deal about the building codes that apply to each kind of project we do.

There are other sub-specialties in interior design: Such as lighting designers, who must keep up with a very fast moving specialty.

Interior decorators usually design furniture, window coverings, paint and wallpaper, in residential settings. They do not usually get involved with structural changes to homes, although some do. They may have attended to a four year college or a community college. Or they can just hang a shingle, if homeowners are willing to pay for their talent.

There are no legal or educational requirements for calling oneself an interior decorator or and interior designer in the State of California. There is a certification program for interior designers in California that is administered by the California Council for Interior Design Certification (CCIDC). I am also certified by them as a Certified Interior Designer.

Most of us designers have families.

I suggest that you do some research to learn more about the various specialties and where you might fit best and what education you need. Talking to career counselors at the various colleges is good. Calling people who advertise in your local Yellow Pages or interiors magazines as interior designers and/or decorators might give you some insight. Ask if you might be permitted to drop by their offices or even "shadow" them for a day. I have allowed students to "shadow" me and they always thank me for the experience. Go to an ASID meeting. You'll have to pay to get in but the experience could tell you if you want to go in that direction. Same way for an NKBA meeting.

Good luck with your career Savannah.

Peggy

Does the Affordable Kitchen Trump the Sustainable Kitchen?

I received this question today from NKBA (the National Kitchen & Bath Association):

In this economy, does sustainability need to give way to affordability?

I think there is a reason that, beyond all the "greenwashing" going on by manufacturers and their ad companies, green is so hot.

Americans are looking at the changes in the weather and the predictions by climate scientists. They are listening to our new president who emphasizes global warming and our predicament every chance he gets. They are assessing the excesses of the past and making plans to do better in the future.

Those of us who still have financial resources and secure jobs in the wake of our financial crisis would like to help in putting the country back to work in ways that we can control.

One of those ways is by greening our homes. Remodeling for energy efficiency is smart remodeling because the payback grows every time the cost of energy increases. Making our drafty and inefficient homes more comfortable is a welcome bonus too.

There is great potential that government incentives will also flow to those who remodel for energy efficiency. I think that will grow. I don't see the logic in similar incentives for kitchen remodeling, other than appliance rebates.

Back to NKBA's question: I think that kitchen remodeling will give way to remodeling for energy efficiency. Kitchen remodeling dollars will shrink, but green remodeling dollars will grow - a lot. Kitchens will still be done, but I predict that the excessive kitchens of the last years are a thing of the past. Kitchens to come will be simpler, less ostentatious, and less expensive. They will have sustainable features, and quite likely be powered by solar on the roof!

Peggy

Cho.Milk Cotton Cheesecake

I always admired a few blogger they could bake very nice cotton cheesecake. I really hope I could make it although I've failed before. Thanks for Happy Flour giving me some tips and technique.

Finally the cotton cheesecake turn out quite nice. I can't say it's perfect as I'm not sure isn't the right texture and the outlook is what it's should be. Overall, I'm quite satisfy with this result and will practice again.

The texture is very light and soft like cotton that I don't feel I'm adding some calorie on my diet. No wonder this cheesecake named as "cotton"! I hope to try out some others flavour. If you've any good cotton cheesecake recipe with coffee, pandan, green tea or other flavours, please share with me. I'm falling in love with this cotton cheesecake :P

I make this cheesecake for a birthday party. I'm not creative and no skills on cake decoration, so I just simply sprinkle some shredded chocolate on the top.

The outlook doesn't looks good but my friend all love the texture. I like the chocolate sponge for the base as its softness goes very well with the cotton cheesecake.

Chocolate Sponge:

3 whole eggs
90g caster sugar

75g plain flour

15g cocoa powder
30g unsalted butter (melted)

Cheese Mixture:
380g chocolate milk

250g cream cheese

50g plain flour (sift)

18g caster sugar

5 egg yolk

5egg white

75g caster sugar

\How I made it:

1. Make the chocolate sponge. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the baking parchment at the side and bottom of a 9 inches round cake tin. Shift the plain flour with cocoa powder three times.
2. In another clean bowl, whisk the eggs and gradually add in the caster sugar. Whisk until it double the size. The texture should be fluffy and pale in color.
3. Gradually shift the shifted flour into the egg mixture and use the spatula gently fold it in.
4. Add in the melted butter and fold it in gently.
5. Pour into the baking tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
6. For the cheese mixture. Line the side and base of a 9" round springform baking tin with grease proof paper and place the sponge cake at the bottom. Wrap the base and surrounding of the tin with 2 layers of foil.
7. Double-boil milk, cream cheese and sugar until cream cheese has melted completely.
8. Add in flour, stir and cook until mixture has thicken.
9. Remove from stove and set aside to cool.
10. Preheat oven to 170C. (I preheated at 150C only as my oven had a weird heating system)
11. Whisk in egg yolk into the cream cheese mixture until well combined.
12. Use a cake mixer and whisk the egg whites till frothy. Gradually add in the sugar and whisk till soft peaks form. Fold in 1/4 of the meringue into the cream cheese mixture until combined.
13. Then fold in the rest of the meringue lightly in 3 portions until well combined. Pour batter into the prepared springform pan.
14. Steam-bake cheesecake in a preheated oven for 15mins then reduce temperature to 140C and continue to steam-bake for 1hr and 45mins.15 (I reduce the temperature to 120C as I mentioned my oven had a weird heating system.)
15. Leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven for 1hr with the door ajar. Remove cake from tin and chill in the fridge for over night. (You can also chill the whole cheesecake in the cake tin.) Cut and serve the cheesecake.