Inside the Design Process — How Much It Really Costs to Work with a Designer: This is one of the most informative posts that I’ve read in a long time. If you are interested in interior design, I would suggest you read it. Even more interesting are the comments where others share their salaries in fields not related to design and some of the underlying assumptions of the value of designers versus other fields. In addition, there seems to be some confusion regarding the billable rate versus actual salary of an interior designer. As a lover of design, I believe they should earn as much as possible but I am simultaneously sad that working with an interior designer is out of reach for most Americans. I’m not surprised that interior design shows, blogs and magazines are so popular because if you want a stylish house, most people are going to have to do it themselves. Although there seems to be some ways to get affordable help like the use of in-store designers or online tools like Modsy. This article definitely left me thinking about the huge hole in the market, the mark up on furniture and how creative work is viewed.
This Fight is Our Fight: No matter what your political view, there is valuable information in Elizabeth Warren’s book. I’m loving it because it gave me so much food for thought. It motivates me to want to go and learn more about the implications of unions and some of these laws/provisions that were put into place to protect consumers but have slowly been taken away. Elizabeth does a good job talking about the overwhelming power large companies have on government. She carefully pieces together parts of history to show how the county once had policies that increased the wealth of most Americans and how that started changing in favor of the wealthiest. I don’t always agree with Elizabeth and I’m skeptical. I know that facts and studies can be twisted and turned to not represent the complete, whole truth and their is usually another side to the story. But she makes compelling arguments, many of which feel intuitively true to my perspective and experience, and it makes me want to learn more about these things. Perhaps it will do the same for others.
The Bold Type: This television show is a total guilty pleasure. It follows the lives of three young women who work at a women’s magazine. It’s a coming of age show where these girls are learning to navigate their careers and their relationships. It’s a fun and easy to watch. Admittedly, I’m only on episode 4 of season 1, but it’s one of those shows that I can put on when I’m just not up to watching a heavy, emotional show. I watch it on Hulu but you can watch the first 3 seasons on FreeForm.