Interior Design Glossary

Abode means living quarters or residence.

Design elements showing general forms instead of a detailed and realistic representation.

Acknowledgments – The paperwork forms that the supplier sends to the designer to indicate what the supplier interpreted the designer’s order to be.

Addenda – Corrections or changes are made to the contract documents by the issuance of addenda. Addenda are written by the person or firm responsible for the original set of contract documents.

Aga – A closed iron range fueled by coke, oil, or gas.

Alabaster – A fine-textured, regularly white, gypsum that is easily carved and translucent when thin.

Aluminum – A lightweight, silver-colored metal used extensively in commercial applications, and occasionally by metal artists.

Appliqué – A technique whereby pieces of fabric are layered on top of one another and joined with decorative stitches.

Arcade – A series of arched columns.

Articulation Class – A single-number summation of how effective a ceiling is in absorbing sound reaching it from over low partitions.

Asahi Ware – Pottery made at Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, since the 17th century. Tends to be made of coarse, sandy clay. Kiln is still in making and is well recognized for its modern, computer-controlled technology.

Back Band – Additional molding piece adhered to the outer edge of casing to create a more substantial appearance.

Balustrade – The railing that is supported by the balusters.

Bas-Relief – Literally, “low-relief.” Raised or indented sculptural patterns that remain close to the surface plane.

Batik – A method of applying dye to cloth that is covered, in part, with a dye-resistant, removable substance such as wax. After dyeing, the resist is removed, and the design appears in the original color against the newly colored background.

Beam – The primary horizontal load-bearing element in a structure.

Bedding Plane – Surface in sedimentary rock parallel to the original surface on which the sediment was deposited.

Bidet – A sanitary fixture for cleansing the genitourinary area of the body.

Bleaching – Using chemicals, such as bleach, to dramatically lighten or to remove color in a wood.

Board-and-Batten – A form of vertical siding composed of boards laid side by side, with the resulting joints covered by narrow strips of wood, or battens.

Bonsai – The art of dwarfing trees or plants by growing and training them in containers.

Box Burns – Furniture damage caused when the shipping carton rubs against the fabric or frame materials.

Brass – An alloy of copper and zinc. Brass is yellow in color, and though harder than either of its constituents, it is appropriately malleable for jewelry making.

Brickmould – Exterior wood moulding to cover the gap between a door or window and its frame.

Burl – A dome-shaped growth on the trunk of a tree. Intricately patterned burl wood is often used by wood turners and furniture makers.

Butcher Block – A surface made from thick cubes or strips of hardwood used for cutting or chopping food items.

Candlepower – Is the unit of luminous intensity approximately equal to the horizontal light output from an ordinary wax candle.

Casement Window – A tall, narrow window that opens by swinging outward from the side.

Casting – The process of pouring molten metal or glass, clay slip, etc. into a hollow mold to harden. Some casting processes permit more than one reproduction.

Celadon – French name for a green, gray-green, blue-green, or gray glaze produced with a small percentage of iron as the colorant.

Ceramics – The art and science of forming objects from earth materials containing or combined with silica; the objects are then heated to at least 1300F to harden.

Chasing - A technique in which steel punches are used to decorate and/or texture of metal surface.

Check – A lengthwise separation of a wood board that extends across the annual growth rings.

China Paint – A low-temperature overglaze fired onto previously glazed and fired ceramic.

Clastic – Sediments formed from the breaking up of earlier rocks.

Closed-Grain – A wood that exhibits narrow, inconspicuous, annual growth rings is considered closed-grain. Examples are cherry and maple.

Columnar Jointing – In igneous rocks, a regular six-sided form of jointing that produces regularly shaped pillars or columns.

Composite – One of the architectural orders. The composite column was the result of combining both the Ionic and Corinthian columns.

Conifer – A softwood tree type, with needles and cones rather than flat, broad leaves.

Convection Oven – Heated air flows around the food.

Corbel – A decorative bracket carved from wood; used under shelving, vent hoods, countertop overhangs, and mantel shelves.

Cornice – The top horizontal band of an entablature, found above the frieze.

Cost Price – The price that the designer must pay for the goods.

Country-rock – The rock or rocks into which an igneous intrusion is placed.

Critical Path Method (CPM) – A preparation method that begins by identifying the interrelationships of the tasks to be performed. This study shows the designer, which tasks must be completed before the next or other tasks can be performed, thus establishing the vital path.

Crystallized – The stone forms into crystals.

Curtains – Like draperies, curtains use fabric, but they are usually hung with in the window frame and close to the glass.

Dado – The lower part of an interior wall, which has been treated with decoration.

Descriptive Specification – Describes, often in intricate detail, the materials, workmanship, manufacture methods, and installation of the obligatory goods.

Dichroic Glass – A thin metallic coating on any type of glass. This coating is applied at a high temperature in a vacuum chamber.