Articles on Design

The Real Estate, Banking & Commercial Weekly for Massachusetts
January 14, 2002

“Designing Woman” Brings More than Decoration to Interiors

By Aglaia Pikounis

Whatever you do, don't call Susan Dearborn an interior decorator.

If you do, Dearborn will patiently explain that she is an interior designer and consultant, not a decorator.

What's the difference? According to Dearborn, a lot. Interior designers are not simply there to pick out fabrics and window treatments, as most decorators do. Designers' jobs are more complicated, often involving months of consulting with architects and contractors to design living spaces.

"Twenty years ago, most of the women that were doing interior design work were dabbling in it," explained Dearborn, the 54-year old principal of Susan Dearborn Interiors in Wellesley. "They were often-times called interior decorators because they were dealing with a lot of fabric and some furnishings, and they were decorating a room more than designing a room."

Today, that's certainly not the case, according to Dearborn, a Vassar College graduate who earned an interior design degree from Mt. Ida College in 1978. The interior design field has evolved into a profession – with designers facing more stringent educational requirements and colleges offering specialized four-year programs in architecture and design.

“The term ‘interior decorator’ has really become an antiquated term today,” said Dearborn, speaking from an office piled high with fabric and carpet samples.

Dearborn really started to see a change in the design field in the years following the last recession. Many of the “decorators,” unable to weather the economic downturn, began to disappear. The ones that were left were the designers who were serious about the field, she said.

Dearborn was one of the few full-time designing women who stuck with it, focusing primarily on residential design.

Throughout the last two decades, Dearborn has developed a solid reputation and clientele who spread the word about her design work, which she describes as “classical.”

In 1993, her firm was selected to work on the restoration of the historic Chathem Bars Inn.

Over the years, Dearborn has also designed winter homes in Florida and helped young couples moving from 1,500-square-foot condominiums design their new 3,500-square-foot homes. Dearborn has even worked for elderly clients who’ve had to move into assisted living residences, helping them decide what to do with all their furnishings.

Banker & Tradesman, page 2