I am not a particularly conventional person when it comes to what I want my future to be. I don’t want to marry someone or have kids of my own but always wanted to adopt a kid. In my future, I always see two huge dogs named Twister and Terry along with a couple other odd animals (wild animals, to be specific) that I take care of on the regular. However, I always imagined this future in a beautiful wooden home. A home which was designed to both excite and soothe me.
We all have a vision of our ideal homes and they are often part of our life goals, whether it is a three-story mansion near a major city or a small wooden cabin hidden away in the forest or modern home with a kick-ass basement on top of a hill looking over the town beneath. We know what we want our homes to look like on the inside and out, yet we’re told being an interior designer is not a good enough profession for us—it isn’t “beneficial” for our future.
Interior designing, if I dare say, is one of the most fulfilling art forms a person can pursue. The satisfaction an interior designer gets from seeing happy customers can hardly be paralleled.
I recently had the amazing opportunity to talk to Amanda Budinsky, a young interior designer with a wonderful vision. Budinsky, a business owner, is currently studying interior designing at St. Claire’s college in Windsor, Ontario.
Amanda Budinsky (Courtesy of Budinsky).
Budinsky turned her love for aesthetic places into her profession. “I had a love for aesthetic places, even as a young kid,” says Budinsky.
Budinsky draws inspiration from one of her teachers, Sandra Ellis (Professor at St. Claire’s college). Ellis is a portrait painter and a sketch artist on top of being an interior designer.
“Amazing artist, amazing teacher,” Budinsky says, describing her professor.
One benefit of turning your passion into a profession is that your passion for your work shapes your entire career and the choices you make. Budinsky’s goal is to make interior designing accessible. She believes that everyone deserves a house that comes as close to their dream house as possible, commenting, “I want to make interior designing affordable for people, who, like me, are not super rich.”
Design by Budinsky (Courtesy of Budinsky).
Budinsky not only takes care of her customer’s pocket but also the environment. By reusing second-hand material and recycled materials as well as environment-friendly products, she not only reduces the waste produced but also reduces the overall costs of her projects.
But her profession comes with its own challenges. Far different from the monetary problems that people might face in trying to hire an interior designer, Budinsky has to face challenges that she might not have faced had she chosen a different career.
A professional studio apartment designed by Budinsky (Courtesy of Budinsky).
“‘Oh! You can’t make money off of that’ is a phrase I’ve heard a lot over the years,” says Budinsky.This is a phrase that almost every person who has said that they wanted to do arts has heard at least once in their lives and interior designers are no exceptions to that.
Another problem Budinsky faces is something that the majority of the younger generation in the workforce can relate to. “People seem to overlook my qualifications and skills, fixating on my age,” she says. “People don’t trust my qualifications or skills because I look young.”
Nevertheless, Budinsky’s motivation is not dithered by such remarks, “If you love something, you’ve gotta keep doing it.”
Her skills and passion fuel her ambition to keep working towards her goal, which is to make interior designing accessible to as many people as possible and to help people achieve their dream home without drowning in debt.
Virtual plan of a design by Budinsky (Courtesy of Budinsky).
An important lesson that Budinsky learned during her study and work is that before pursuing anything, you need to have a complete understanding of the requirements of your goals.
“Most people who want to pursue interior designing are unaware of the courses that they need to take or the examinations they need to pass to become be certified as an interior designer,” she says. “Most people also confuse interior designing with interior decoration, which is a completely different profession…you need to do your research if you want to be successful in any line, including this one.”
To any potential interior designers reading this, Budinsky has some words:
“As fun as it is, interior designing has a lot of challenges. Complete your research of the field’s requirements before diving into the deep end and get the required licenses. Study the market and the customer’s needs, be ready to move if that is what you need to do to make your business flourish. Look into it, find out exactly what you are getting into. But, if you are ready to do all of this, it will all be worth it.”
You can check out Budinsky’s works and contact her through her Facebook home page, here.
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