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Have you ever stopped to think about designing a room, office, kitchen, or perhaps even a
school? Interior design is important because it helps to better materialistic surroundings. The
most important things about interior design include the history, the types of locations being
designed, the moods that colors make you feel and most important, the cost of designing. Interior
design helps improve the quality of life for everyone. “Often we don’t realize that our interior
spaces can govern or moods, our outlook on life, even how happy we are to be alive” (Joyce).
The most important things about interior design, are the 5 elements, Space, Line, Form,
Color, and texture.when decorating a place the 5 elements guide you to look for the best and
putting things together. When it comes to the space, you should know that you are just working
with the existing space and not determining it. You should want to make the place bigger and
with more space. It set the limits to the functional and decorative thing that you can do to the
place. Lines, like color and form, can set the overall mood of the room. Vertical lines can be very
helpful for adding height to a small room. It also gives the dignity and formal look. On the other
hand, horizontal lines add the informal and restful feeling. The diagonal lines are the one to
attract your attention. Curved lines are for softening the place and making it from looking stiff
and so feminine. The form of a room is produced by the lines or shapes of object in the room,
which also affects the feeling of the room. The color is very helpful in determining the mood of a
room. Even with the simplest furnishing colors can make a room look smaller or larger, or it can
make it feel cooler or warmer. The possible smoothness or roughness of a room is determined as
a texture of the room. Texture fulfills and amplifies the feeling of the casual feeling of the room.
You should always avoid dramatic contrast in textures. (Articlesbase)
“Interior design is just what the name implies, the decorating of the interiors of our
buildings to make our rooms more attractive, confortable, and functional” (Joyce).

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Thanks to the ancient Egyptians, interior design is now very popular. Ancient Egyptians
wouldn’t decorate their mud huts with very simple furniture. They would make their furniture
out of animal skins and/or textiles. “Roman and Greeks built next to the Egyptians art interior
decorating and accessorizing.” Greeks wooden furniture would have ivory and silver
ornamentation. Home interiors reflected wealth and distinction. Colors were introduced by the
European after the dark ages. During the Dark ages the richest people went from decorative
touches and stone carvings to muted colors and simple textiles (IDS).
Every location is designed differently. Offices are usually design to look professional.
Most of the time all they do to an office is choose a nice desk, a comfortable chair, a small shelf,
and a cabinet drawer. The best color for an office is white. It is simple, relaxing, and calmed.
Small apartments should be designed and furnished with small furniture so that helps make more
space. Mirrors can also make the place look significally larger (Article).
Designing a restaurant is totally different. You have to see what kind of restaurant it is
going to be. For example if it is going to be Mexican restaurant, then you might want to have
some Mexican drawings on the wall to emphasis the type of restaurant. Some great colors would
the Mexican colors for representation. Also, if it is a nice fancy restaurant then you want to make
sure that it makes the customers feel welcomed and comfortable enough to stay longer after their
meal. You want everything to look very well organized and pretty looking. Designing a school is
different because you don’t any colors that will cause distractions. You want to keep on mind
that it is a place where concentration and relaxation is needed. For students to be able to pay
attention in class, the color beige is perfect in helping concentrate and gives a calm feeling.
Interior design doesn’t necessary have to expensive. Little changes can make a
big difference, for example, in your kitchen; you can try a bright, colorful appliance on the

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counter top. The color will add that “WOW” factor. If any of your appliance is scratched or
mismatched, you can put a giant magnet that gives them an artful disguised. You can do things
one by one so that you don’t have to spend a lot of money that you don’t have at the
time.(Bertand).“It is important that we pay attention to this aspect of our existence. Even when
we live in poverty, we try to decorate our interiors to give our lives more meaning, to give
ourselves a sense of hope. That is why interior decorating is so important” (Joyce).
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition reality show is based on improving the life of those
families who are in need and are going through rough times. Making their lifes better and
happy.By watching this show I realize that they also, think interior design is important for
improving the way people feel about their homes. The way it makes them feel, even when they
are in need but still have a beautiful surrounding.
That is why the history, the locations, moods and cost of interior design are important.
For someone that likes interior design, the history is a great thing to know. The moods that each
location makes you feel are some amazing things that you probably never thought about.
Remember that designing something does not have to cost you much at all.
If you really love interior design, then it is very interesting to know how and who it
started it. And to know that this started centuries ago by ancient Egyptians. And why it became
so important in our lives. You would never have thought that colors and the way things are
arranged would affect your mood. Having everything in your home arranged just the way you
like does not have to be expensive. Little things can make big difference. Small rooms can be
made to look bigger by arranging things a certain way. Like for small rooms it is better to furnish
it with small furniture. The calming colors such as; white and beige are the most used for offices
and school. Where most concentration is needed!

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Teresa Kirkwood from Kirkwood builders has so many responsibilities as an interior designer.
Her and her husband, have to work together before breaking down on the house plans to make
sure that they function efficiently. They make great use of the space, have a flow to them, and
are aesthetically pleasing. It is a job to stay abreast of trends and new products to incorporate in
their homes. For their Parade of homes, homes and spec homes she has to choose everything that
is visual. That includes so many things for her to do, such as, what kind of bricks and stone to
use, where to put it, the roof color, the front door, what color and style of cabinets, which
wrought iron picket to use, what interior doors we use, and door knobs. Plumbing fixtures,
lighting and here to put it, what kind of trim to put where, wall colors, tile and tile layouts, it
really goes on and on. She also has to shop for and stage their homes. Mrs. Kirkwood does faux
finishes on ceiling and home theaters. When she has pre-sells a home, she works with her
homebuyers and guides them through their selections of all the above things. She likes them to
have a true custom home. She loves what she does but what she most enjoys is their model and
Parade homes because she gets to do them exactly how she likes. The Kirkwood Builders team,
which includes her, her husband, my father and uncles,have won five of the best Awards in the
Johnston County Parade of Homes Competition. That just means that their homes got the highest
total points of all homes in the competition.
I have had the experience of seeing the wonderful homes that they create. I have been to
the competition, seen every detail of the homes that Kirkwood Builders make and also have been
in the Parade of Homes and have seen the many things that she has to do. I had never seen such
beautiful real homes.