Category: Interior design tips

1. I've finally won the BIID CPD Award!

   Posted on 2:00pm Friday 7th Jul 2023

   

    

   Me with my BIID CPD award '23 on the terrace at the RIBA HQ in London yesterday ✨🎉

    

    

   I'm a big advocate for education. My retired parents worked in education.

   This profession is a pretty scary one without one. Interior design is unregulated, anyone can be an interior designer. It's a profession that requires a lot of learning. Apart from anything, we expose ourselves to risk when working for clients. Continued learning is essential in my opinion as is membership of the government recognised institute for our profession - the British Institute of Interior Design

    

    

   I'm extremely grateful for my free education, and am concerned for those who now can't seek out their potential in the way we were able. Course fees are so high. We did voice our concern and anger about it when fees and student loans came in. I worry we didn't do it enough though.

    

    

   I haven't stopped learning since leaving university 30 years ago.

   From converting to interior design to learning about business and marketing, to following all my interests within sustainability - exploring vegan design, human centric design and regenerative design, taking lots of courses to support that.

    

    

   Sharing knowledge (and collaborating!) is vital to speeding along change in the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis we are in.

   Please join us by signing the pledge at www.interiordesigndeclares.co.uk where we can help each other.

    

    

   THE reason for joining the BIID was to formalise this learning, supplemented by their own range of continuing professional development courses. I've diligently recorded all of my CPD every year - because for the whole 10 years I've been a member - I have wanted to win this CPD award - and now I have!!

    

    

   Thank you to my friend and past BIID president Lori Pinkerton Rollet for encouraging me to join all those years ago 😍

    

    

   Thank you too for all the support I've had from the BIID community for the book I'm writing for RIBA Publishing on sustainable interior design.

    

    

   And WELL DONE and THANK YOU to past president Susie Rumbold who received the Merit Award yesterday for all she has done for designers and our industry. I hope you've all bought a copy of the BIID Interior Design Project Book!

2. Now Living Future Accredited

   Posted on 8:35pm Thursday 27th Apr 2023

   "SOCIALLY JUST, CULTURALLY RICH, AND ECOLOGICALLY RESTORATIVE"
   For the last year I've been studying the Living Building Challenge curriculum - which is a whole host of courses on Regenerative Design...

   1. Living Building Challenge - Full, Imperative and Petal certification - for new, existing buildings, interior and landscapes
   2. Living Community Challenge - regenerative communities
   3. Living Product Challenge - regenerative and social just products
   4. Biophilic Design
   5. Healthy Materials
   6. Urban Agriculture
   7. Core Green Building Certification
   8. Declare label - ‘nutrition label’ for healthier building materials and products
   9. Just label - Tools to promote corporate transparency and employee engagement while helping to create a better, more socially just and equitable world
   10. Reveal label - high performance building energy label
   11. Zero Carbon - standard to measure actual decarbonisation of a building design - embodied and operational
   12. Zero Energy - independently verified highly efficient buildings that rely only on clean energy from the sun, wind or earth 

    

   Learning through case studies I've learnt "what good looks like". 
   
   The study has deepened my understanding and knowledge of regenerative design, along with appreciation of the wide span of tools to use to certify products, projects and communities provided by the International Living Future Institute.  I'm now Living Future Accredited.

   

3. Interior Design Declares X Decorex panel discussion 'Creating a more sustainable interior design practice' - My FIVE TAKEAWAYS

   Posted on 5:00pm Tuesday 13th Dec 2022

    

   

   Five takeaways from Interior Design Declares X Decorex panel discussion...

   1. We are all at different stages and we can learn together, share information and have a bigger impact together. If you are a designer or supplier to the interior design industry, please sign our pledge at https://www.interiordesigndeclares.co.uk/  
   2. We each have very different routes in to working sustainably - there are many crossovers and not all are the same
   3. Look at some of the quick wins in how you operate your business.  Switch to more ethical bank and pension.  Use renewable energy. Rethink stationery.  Digital waste is huge - look at clearing old emails, look at website efficiency.
   4. Site waste - in the UK 50,000 tonnes of plastic waste on building sites a year.
   5. Don't get overwhelmed but just start working in a better way!  Clients will appreciate it and they often really like the storytelling of sustainable materials.

    

   Thank you to our excellent moderator Rosalind Sack of The Home Page.

   You can watch the panel discussion here.