Interior Design Terms

Interior Design Terms (B) for Consultants and People in the Home Renovation Industry

• Ball catch: A spring-loaded ball set in the mortise in a door that slips into a hole on a strike plate in the doorframe.
• Ballflower: an ornament that looks like a ball placed in a globular flower of which the three petals form a cup round it. 14th  century and occasionally 13th  century.
• Baluster: The vertical post in a balustrade.
• Balustrade: The collection of rails and posts with a rail along the top that form the waist height wall to the sides of stairs or to a terrace or balcony.
• Bambooing: (Faux Finishes) the imitation of bamboo is achieved by painting turned or carved wood to copy the bamboo knots and grain, then decorating it. It was popular during the eighteenth century. It is often used to change the look of an old piece of furniture.
• Band and Hook Hinge: A gate hinge that is made from heavy wrought iron strip or steel which drops onto a pin fixed to a wall.
• Banding: The strip of timber that edges a veneer. Often a clashing strip.
• Baroque: A style from 17th century Europe that is often characterised by abundant curves and ornament.
• Barrel Vault: An overhead structure or covering often glazed that is a horizontal half cylinder.
• Bas Relief: Figures (sculptured work) which project less than half their true proportions from the wall or surface on which they are carved.
• Basilica: the name that was used by Romans to describe their public halls of justice or exchange or other business. The plan was usually rectangular divided into aisles by rows of columns that in the middle being the widest with a semicircular apse at one end in which the tribunal was placed. The name became synonymous with church.
• Batiste Fabric: Lightweight, usually light colours, often printed. High count of fine yarns. More opaque than voiles. Usually composed of 100% polyester or a polyester blend.
• Battered: A term used in construction or architecture that refers to a wall that slopes backward as it rises from the ground. A slope at the back of a house may be battered or cut so that it is self-retaining. May also apply to walls that may gently slope inward e.g. the walls of a castle tower.
• Bauhaus: The most dominant force in Contemporary Design, with the shortest life span. German Architect and Designer Walter Gropius was the founder. He combined two schools, the Art Academy  and the school of Arts and Crafts of Weimar in Germany in 1919. The school was  noted for a program that synthesised technology, craftsmanship and design aesthetics. Like the Arts and Crafts Movement before it, the Bauhaus aimed to reform the making of everyday objects, but rather than rejecting technology and the machine, they embraced industrial production.
• Bay Window: A window in a formed wall that projects from the main wall line to form an alcove.
• Beading: A decorative strip or moulding. Found on furniture, silver, glassware, pottery etc.
• Beaux Arts: From the French language, the fine arts.  The term applied to art and architectural schools in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth, whose courses stressed the study and imitation of past design areas.
• Bed Cover with Corner Pleats: This is a tailored bedcover with a clean style. It covers the bedding completely. It has a box like fit and look and is neat and unobtrusive. It has inverted pleats at the corners and produces a tidier effect than a duvet cover.
• Beech: A hardwood.  Light reddish-brown in colour.
• Belfrey: A bell tower.
• Berber: Originating from North Africa, the process of hand spun, undyed wool yarn hand weaving. It has been imitated on a commercial basis and now the name Berber provides a homespun natural feel and coloured carpet.
• Bergere: (Fr) - An armchair which has a completely upholstered seat, back and arms.
• Berlin Woolwork: Gros point needlework in bright colours using canvases, patterns, and yarn distributed by Berlin manufacturers, Popular during the mid 19th century.
• Bevel: One surface meeting another at an angle.
• Binding: A strip of fabric, either straight or bias, which binds fabric edges and encloses piping.
• Blast Cleaning: i.e. shot, bead or sand blasting to clean an object or create an effect.
• Blistering: (paint) is bubbles or blisters in the paint film. It is caused by water vapour being attracted by heat and forming spaces beneath the film, or resins from knots in the timber being attracted to heat, or paint being used on surfaces which have extreme heat. To prevent this problem, make sure that the substrate is completely dry before painting. Remove any knots and replace with plugs. Use heat resistant paints for areas that have extreme heat. Select light paint colours as they reflect more heat.
• Blisters or Bubbles: (wallcovering) This means that the paper is not flat on the substrate and has pockets of air trapped behind. It is caused by under soaking or not evenly brushing paste, or insufficient smoothing whilst handling.
• Blocking: Timber used at right angles to the framing joists to provide support from twisting and buckling.
• Blushing: Milky opalescence in lacquer usually caused by lack of compatibility in the paint or being applied in cold or wet weather.(moisture in the lacquer).
• Board and Batten: A type of siding composed of wide boards and narrow battens. The boards are nailed to the sheathing so that there is one/half inch space between them. The battens are nailed over the open spaces between the boards.
• Bobbin Twist: A turned chair stretcher used from the 17th Century on, it looks like a row of bobbins and was used on the backs and legs.
• Boiserie: Carved wooden paneling. In Rococo and neo Rococo interiors these would be gilded and have a white background.
• Bolster: A cylindrical pillow, or in furniture a long cylindrical shaped cushion to support the head as in the "Le Corbousier Chaise Lounge".
• Book matching: A way of placing successive sheets of veneer sliced so that when laid, side by each sheet acts as a mirror image of its neighbour.
• Borders: (wallcovering)  These are narrow widths of wallpaper available in 5 metre or 10 metre rolls and come in varying widths. They are a decorative item, which can be used to create different spaces on walls.
• Boucle Fabric: French for curled, indicates a curled or looped surface.
• Boullework: A form of marquetry originally from 10th century Italy. Usually with tortoiseshell and brass. Improved by Andre Charles Boulle in France during the 17th century and popular during that time.
• Bow Window: A curved window sometimes called a circular bay.
• Bowled floor: A floor that slopes towards one end as in a theatre.
• Bracing: is used to laterally support a building.
• Bracket: A projecting support. Can be from any material. In masonry it will be a corbel. Often in decorative form. Brackets support anything from arches and lintels to shelves and curtain rods.
• Braid: (drapery) is a woven ornamental trimming that has two finished edges, it is a flat border. Used for trims and edges for curtains, upholstery and accessories.
• Brick Veneer: A covering of brick. Usually to the exterior walls but often used as a feature to the interior.
• Brick and Brick Paviours: Bricks are made from clay, which is formed into shapes and dried in a kiln. Paviours are made in a similar fashion but they are thinner and often have special finishes on the surface. They are both hardwearing and chemical resistant. They are laid on a bed of mortar.
• Broadcloth: Used for tablecloths, bedspreads and drapery.
• Brocade: Rich jacquard, woven fabric with an all over interwoven design of raised figures or flowers. Brocade has a raised surface in contrast to felt damask, and is generally made of silk, rayon and nylon yarns with or without metallic treatment.
• Brocatelle: (fabric)  like damask uses more than two colours. It has a satin or twill figure on a plain or satin ground. Different to damask as raised areas of pattern are formed by a double warp.
• Brooming: (Broom finish) Scratching a floating coat to make a key for plaster or using a soft broom to create a textured surface to exterior concrete pathways creating an anti slip finish.
• Buckram: A material used for lining and stiffening which is either sewn or ironed into place.
• Buff: To polish or grind down to a smooth finish.
• Building Code: Building Laws corresponding to Building regulations.
• Building Surveyor: A person trained in the techniques, costs and law of construction, Often known as a Quantity surveyor.
• Bulkhead: A boxed shape used to cover services etc. Either internal or external.
• Bullnose: The rounding of an edge or aris. E.g. to the edge of a table or a rounded edge of a brick.
• Burlap: Coarse, canvaslike fabric made of jute, hemp or cotton. Also called Gunny.
• Burr: (Burl) The curly figuring found in timber. E.g. Burred Walnut.
• Butt Hinge: This is the most common of all hinges. It is the standard hinge found on most doors. Each side of the hinge being a simple rectangle with screw holes for fixing joined together with a removable pin. The two halves are folded together with one side screwed to the door and the other to the frame allowing the door to swing on the pin.
• Butt Veneer: The type of veneer having a strong curly figure like crotch caused by roots growing out of the trunk at varying angles.
• Butt: To meet without overlapping.
• Buttoned: A feature of tufted upholstery in which usually fabric covered buttons are sewn over points of tufting to finish.
• Buttress: A projection from a wall to create additional strength and support. The flying buttress is used to support the wall at the junctions where an arch or arched truss is adding force to the wall both vertically and horizontally.