When people think of interior design, images of perfect looking rooms in beautiful homes often come to mind. Certainly, some well planned interior designing took place to create such a beautiful venue, but modern interior design is not limited to the most exclusive and expensive homes. There is a real function for interior design as well. Not just in homes, but in almost any edifice you can imagine.
Interior design is meant to serve a functional purpose as well as an aesthetic one. Everyone would like their home to look beautiful and solicit admiring comments from guests, but a truly well designed home or business will use well designed plans to improve the overall experience of the visitor as well. When form meets function, great things happen. In fact, once you get past flipping through the pages of the latest design magazines, you will find that on a larger, more practical scale, the true purpose of interior design is to make inside spaces more functional.
When plans are set down on paper for new buildings, one of the most important things that is considered is how the space will work for visitors. In a retail setting, this means creating a space that is comfortable for shoppers and which draws them deep into the store. They must feel at ease and be able to lose themselves in the experience of shopping. Sometimes, this is done on a very basic level. A visit to the grocery store will prove this. The most commonly purchased items are generally placed deep within the store. This forces shoppers to walk past hundreds of other items which are also strategically placed to call out for an impulse purchase. Even the check out lanes are lined with small items that draw the attention of the person waiting in line. Imagine how many small items like chewing gum, candy bars, or flashy tabloid magazines are thrown into the shopping cart every day during the three to five minute wait before reaching the cashier.
Of course, a grocery store is an extreme example. Other venues use interior design in a more subtle way to influence the feelings and behaviors of the people within them. Professional offices are generally designed to inspire a productive atmosphere. Medical or dental offices will be painted in soothing shades to lessen the anxiety of patients during their visits. There is much planning and thought that goes into any well designed interior space. Making the most of that space can be a challenge, but it is worth the effort.