In an Interior Design Project, even though we as professionals propose and even decide, one of the decisions that cost the most to take clients has to do with the choice of materials and finishes of the project, whether commercial or residential.
It is as if a kind of danger of no return seizes their minds and blocks their ability to extract benefits and drawbacks from each of the finishes presented by the editor of the interior design project, reaching a point of permanent indecision.
Go ahead that one of the tasks of the interior designer in this regard is to pre-select, inform and advise the client in this regard although there is always the last decision that runs on your own.
The range of possibilities that the current panorama offers us, in constant evolution and with continuous exits to the market of new products, is practically impossible to comprehend and know in its entirety.
They become real experts in the field, working as walking encyclopedias in the world of building materials. There is no brand or model in the market that escapes your knowledge.
While we understand this practice as necessary, we disagree in part, since reaching that level of knowledge requires dedication and time that could well be invested in other more capital aspects for the profession in general and the particular interior design project in particular.
That is why we do not see this way of acting as the most “intelligent” from the Interior Designer, let’s call it “total.”
The three factors by which we select materials or finishes are:
Esthetic
The most common mistake among “non-professionals” is to choose finishes exclusively based on aesthetics, neglecting the other points that will be discussed below.
Moreover, sometimes there is a large part of decisions that are made depending on the choice of certain finishes, conditioning the whole of an interior design project to the presence of a material with a specific “first and last name.” A serious error where there are!
We remember that every good architectural project is one that reaches a point of balance between the aesthetic, functional and structural aspects. We will not tire of repeating it.
Use
The behavior of a material or finished in time depends mainly on the application. The same material behaves differently when it is placed as a flooring than when it is placed on a wall, ceiling or wall covering of any kind.
That is why we must be very clear about what the use of this material will be and to think which of the finishes families will best adapt to our particular case.
That is to say, if we look for a material of pavement that supports high traffic, the finished ceramic, stony, even continuous sidewalks of concrete or smooth micro-cement would be a good option. On the contrary, wood, epoxy resins and the like, would not tolerate this high traffic in the same way.
Maintenance
Whichever material we opt for, we must be aware that all products on the market require maintenance, minimum in many cases, but never non-existent. For our particular example, we will think about what support we are willing to assume and depending on it we will choose the material.
Sometimes it is interesting that some of the factors are put before the rest and take on a particular role.
Is it true that when we go out to a gala dinner, mainly women, do you make up in a unique way? Throughout the night visits to the bathroom are frequent to touch up that makeup. But that night you are spectacular, impressive. We are assuming high maintenance for being radiant. The occasion deserves it.
The same happens in the world of interior design. In certain projects we have the need to look spectacular, to “enter through the eyes”, that the aesthetic component is still a protagonist as a result of paying a high price in terms of maintenance.
In contrast, there are other types of projects in which the appearance of aesthetics does not take precedence over investment in maintenance, which in many cases results in remodeling or substitution of the aforementioned material sequenced over time.
Basically those are the aspects on which we decide the construction materials that we choose for our projects.
Aesthetics, use and maintenance are not the only aspects to take into account when deciding a material or finishing in an interior design project, they are the primary ones for us, but there are others that are also very important as the economic aspect, aspects ecological and a very long etcetera that would make this post endless.