Oregon Public Broadcasting

Interior designers want to distinguish themselves from decorators that pick out pillow colors and bed spreads. That’s why groups of designers are after legislation in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

It would require a certain level of education and skill to call oneself an interior designer. But critics inside and outside the field say the designers are trying to create a cartel to stifle competition. Correspondent Anna King reports from Seattle.

Stephanie Deshaies looks like she sauntered right off the Sex in the City movie set.

Designers at NBBJ in Seattle discuss the University of Washington’s new neonatal hospital project.

She sports an oversized metallic bag, a jaunty white dress coat and towering stiletto heels that don’t slow her strut a bit. But unlike Sarah Jessica Parker, Deshaies has a problem nearly every time she goes to a cocktail party. She has to explain her job.

Stephanie Deshaies: "The typical conversation goes something like this: What do you do? I’m an interior designer. Great! I have this room in my home that you can work on with me. Or you can help me select this paint color."

Deshaies CAN select paint chips or find a new look for a room. But she’s an educated interior designer. She can do a lot more than that. She knows disability codes. She understands flammable materials.

She knows how to prevent mold from growing under wall coverings. Constantly being underestimated is why Deshaies has been on a 10-year mission in two states to require state licensing for her profession.

Stephanie Deshaies: "Today in Washington State anyone can call themselves an interior designer. Now where you might not be concerned about that for your home, when we are talking about hospitals, schools, hotels, restaurants where the public is assembling in mass we need to be very concerned about that."

Deshaies is so concerned that she has become the head of a group called the Interior Design Coalition of Washington that’s pushing for state licensing. They’d set minimum standards for education and an apprenticeship and require passage of a 16-hour exam.

The proposal has split the profession.

Attorney Michael Bindas represents designers who DON’T want the state to get involved.

Michael Bindas: "Consumers would be forced to select from a handful of the remaining elite -- so to speak -- designers who could satisfy all these ridiculously burdensome requirements to obtain the state’s permission to continue practicing."

So far the opponents are prevailing. The interior designers that want to put walls up around their profession brought me to a design firm in Seattle to renew their case. They want to show how sophisticated their work is these days.

Designers at a firm called NBBJ were in the midst of a charrette or a brainstorming session.

Ambiant: "My question is how much space have you got to work with?"

A dozen professionals gather in front of huge colorful drawings. The designers are coming up with new ideas for the University of Washington’s new neonatal hospital project.

Ambiant: "That’s room for a table and a chair. That starts to say something...."

They post stickies to the drawings with enthusiasm. One of the principle designers suggests porch swings, or chairs with movement, to sooth worried parents.

Most of us never see this process. The designers here argue good design is often invisible to the public. People only think about it when a building is too hot or the lighting isn’t right.

Ambiant: "I think we’ve got to wrap it up...."

Architects and engineers are weighing in on the conversation too.

Stan Bowman is executive director of the American Institute of Architects Washington Council. He fears the minimum standards for interior designers would force architects to take more classes and take additional exams on stuff they already know.

Stan Bowman: "Architects are well trained on issues of code, safety and design for safety. And should be allowed to continue to practice in areas where they have historically practiced and they have been trained to practice. Their education and their testing covers aspects of interior safety."

State legislation to license interior designers has been introduced twice in Olympia and failed both times. When the legislature gets back in session next January, Stephanie Deshaies says she will try to push it through again.

Similar groups are exploring the possibility of bills in the Oregon and Idaho legislatures.