May 4th, 2018
By Jason Parr
One of my passions in life is the art of interior design. While I have yet to receive professional training on the subject myself, watching a lot of television shows, doing internet research on my own time about the latest trends, using some design-based video games and mobile apps to furnish virtual rooms, and gaining some experience through staging houses with my mother has helped me begin to hone my craft as a designer. So, it should come as no surprise that I am motivated by the thought of seeing the end-results of my efforts as they play-out from mind to room, and what I can learn from each design itself.
Whether the finished design is spot on or better left in my head, the opportunity to see that design in its entirety is always what drives me to the finish line. I feel It’s important to never quit when I start a design as both the satisfaction of a job well done if I like the way it looks, or the moment of disappointment I may feel when a design isn’t fully realized at the end can help show me which ones work well and which ones do not.
In my spare time I like to play the life-simulator game The Sims. In this game you can make your own virtual people (“Sims”) and control their virtual lives. However, I am more interested in the architectural aspect of the game. You can build homes for your sims from the ground up or purchase a pre-furnished house and edit to your liking. I typically prefer to build my own houses, and when I am finished building and designing I usually upload the finished product to one of the Sims community sites (of which there are a lot!) for other players to look at and download. There are some designs of mine that I love from start to finish and there are some designs that I couldn’t quite figure out as I was working on them, but eventually it all came together in the end. Others I look at and wonder “What was I thinking?!” But I think there is value even in my less-than-stellar-designs as they can motivate me to work harder and try something new next time. If I were to quit working and scrap the house entirely before I feel it’s finished, then I might not learn what exactly it is I am not liking about it – and that leaves open the possibility of making the same mistake again and again!
So, whether I am helping a friend set-up their living room in real life or setting up a virtual living room for my legions of adoring fans in the Sims community (just kidding), I find the best motivator to be knowing that I will learn new things from each design I am working on. Just as long as I finish it.
Categorized in: Community, interior design
