interiors

I can do and have done this work.
It is fashion. I do not volunteer to do fashion.
The fact that the interior of a building has little or nothing to do with the exterior was brought home to me only a few years ago.
The problem of interior design is much the same as that of architecture. It is to make the space fit the mind of the occupant and or the client.
Let me deal with the specific case.
The designer has done her client proud. There is nothing I can quibble with in the work done. The presentation by the reporter needed some polishing. It got it in the comments.
The negative comments fall into three categories. Failure to read. Failure to see. Failure to think. I will include simple jealousy in the last category.

No, a pretty throw would not "fix" the sofa. The client's problem was that she had not moved in to the space. As a fashion house publicist and an English major she may not be capable of moving in to the space. The party procedure I learned is that coats go on the bed. Closets are Private space. About a third of this space was not covered in this article. The windows face south. I would not willingly socialize with the client.
The city is not a requirement of mine. I found work there within range of "free" rent.

dogs

I like dogs. I like them enough that I won't have one dependent on me in my present circumstances. Twenty to forty pounds is a good size.
I interact with a female pit-bull. She is affectionate company and people tolerant. I like and trust her. I also interact with a Yorkie who does not suffer from the extreme dwarfism that corrupts that breed. A six pound dog, he is a house pet. I like him though he is nervous about strange things. Working dogs are my intellectual preference. Two of my brothers had Brittany spaniels. Nice dogs. Very hierarchical.
I am dog tolerant and doggedly ignorant. I have no objection to dogs.

(ART)

I was taught that art is nonverbal communication. It is.
Poetry may be putting the nonverbal burden into a verbal structure.
. . .

Art is many things to many people. For me it is exploration of the aesthetic experience. Design is, in general, not exploration but the creation of an aesthetic experience for others. Design can explore. Most such explorations should not reach the customers.

Fashion

Fashion is derivative of itself, always. The last great innovation in the fashion industries was Velcro. Fleece (Polartec) and Gortex are not yet fashionable. EMS, L. L. Bean and MSR are working on that. The art of fashion design is to do the same thing with recognisable differences. Microsoft is guilty of fashion. The important thing about fashion is not the design but the date. This makes "avaunt guard" a fashion statement. Styling is always an attempt to move an object to current fashion.