Chapter 1 The Value of Interior Design 9 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Discussion of the value of interior design focuses on the impact on public health, safety, and well-being when addressing laws, regulations, or the built environment. The built environment refers to manmade surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, from the largest civic buildings to the smallest personal place. The use of the health and safety language relates to laws regulating the licensing of professions that protect people, Figure 1-3. The previous examples are just a few reasons why interior design may be of value to you as a career and why the public values it. The next section describes more. As you study the fi eld and profession, record other reasons you discover. You will be amazed how many there are! The Value of Interior Design to As you think about a career in interior design, it is important to examine the effects interior design has on you. Whether you realize it or not, the design of interior places wields great power and infl uence in your life. Boulder Community Hospital/LaCasse Photography Figure 1-3 Protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the public is a prime focus of the interior design profession. Predict what types of laws and regulations protect the public in this environment. Interior places shape your behaviors, feelings, and perceptions just as they will for your future clients. ■ Behaviors (or actions). The shape of a room, the available light you have to complete a homework assignment, or the location of dishes in a kitchen can all infl uence your behaviors and actions. ■ Feelings. Your choices in color, connection with nature through window placement, and symbols of individuality that mark your personal territories all infl uence your feelings. ■ Perceptions. Your perceptions involve your sensory awareness of environmental elements in your space. For instance, the textural surfaces on an object (rough or smooth), the comfort in furniture (soft or fi rm), or privacy to meditate (visual privacy to refl ect) all infl uence your perceptions about a space. The infl uence of interior design on your daily life is very real and signifi cant. Moreover, you have the power to control the design of the interiors you occupy by the choices you make, by what you specify, or what you buy. As a future interior designer, you will deal with these realities as you work with clients and their spaces.