Designers/architects craft spaces that anticipate our needs and appeal to our emotions while pulling from a broad set of skills and technical knowledge. Interior design has changed dramatically since the early 20th century when it was just beginning to emerge as a profession.

The best buildings and the best interiors are those in which there is no obvious disparity between the many elements that make up the totality. Among these elements are the structural aspects of a building, the site planning, the landscaping, the furniture, and the architectural graphics (signs), as well as the interior details.

A truly great or beautiful interior can indeed be called a work of art, but some would prefer to call such an interior a “great design.”

One of the key considerations in any design must be the question of whether a design “works” or functions for its purpose.

Of all the component elements that together form a completed interior, the single most important element is space. Spaces can be exhilarating or depressing, cheerful or serene, all depending upon the use the designer has made of the various elements that form the whole. Space is, in modern times, a costly commodity.

Space can be thought of as the raw material which must be molded and shaped with the designers’ tools of colour, texture, light, and scale.

The manipulation of space is a matter of both aesthetic and functional consideration.