The term "residential designer" is not a widely known or understood professional title among the general public. If one were to define their occupation as such, an explanation would need to follow in nearly every case. However confusing the title may be, you know it has something to do with a house. A simple way of putting it is that Residential Designers do the same thing as an Architect. However, the work of an Architect include residential as well as commercial projects. Residential Designers focus exclusive on single family homes. Within the scope of residential work, their skills include building design, interior design, and home remodeling.
Building Design
This is the main area of focus for nearly all residential specialist. Building design, in the residential field, is the process of creating a concept and completing the blueprints of a home plan. This is what many people would consider to be the work of an architect. In fact, the meaning of the word "architect" is one who designs and supervises the construction of buildings. However, there are few architects in comparison to residential planners who actually focus on home designs as their main expertise. This is why residential designers are considered the specialist when it come to home plans because it is nearly one hundred percent of their business. Because of this, these professionals are also referred to as home designers, house designers, and building designers.
Interior Design
Most people quickly associate this as the primary duties of a house plan expert. Somehow, it is widely assumed that an interior is synonymous with residential. Interior design from a home designers perspective is more about connectivity with the elevation. When they do interior design, it involves the continuation of the exterior theme which is to be carried throughout the homes interior for harmony and balance throughout the entire building. This includes things like crown molding design, chair railing, wainscot, ceiling details, etc. This is quite different from say an interior planner working from a benchmark footprint and house theme.
Home Remodeling
This is related to the aforementioned skills. In this type of work, an addition is common which involves the use of the building planning while the interior design is used to carry the existing theme into the newly designed and remodeled portion of the home.
There are quite a few architects who primarily focus on residential projects, but the percentage within the architect community is small. On the other hand, residential planners concentrate on house plans. Whether it is keeping up with the latest home design trends or creating the latest trend, it is all they do. You can refer to these design professionals as Home Designers, House Designers, or Residential Designers. No matter which term you use, you are still referring to a home plan design specialist.