Whether the person decorating your house has a license or not makes no difference. Someone who designs is a designer and she can proclaim it to the world, according to a federal judge.
The Institute for Justice has been fighting a Connecticut law that separates licensed designers from all the others by not allowing anyone without a license to call herself, or himself, a designer.
Well, the state cannot do that, a federal judge decided Tuesday and struck down the law.
The Institute for Justice had sued the state's Department of Consumer Protection last September on behalf of three Connecticut residents who were told they could call themselves “Designer of Interiors,” CT Newsjunkie reported in September.
While many states regulate the interior design industry, none are quite as strict as Connecticut's.
There are 640 registered interior designers in Connecticut, which collects an annual fee of $150 from each person. Violators could be fined up to $500 and could be put in prison for up to one year. There’s no word on how many unregistered designers.
State officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
