Furniture Dictionary
Furniture Terms / Definitions

Abacus: flat top of column: a flat slab at the top of a column

Acacia: flowering tree: a tropical or subtropical shrub or tree that has small fluffy yellow globular flowers, narrow leaves, and dark fruit pods. Genus Acacia.

Acanthus Leaf: popular Greek decorative motif adapted from the acanthus plant. Found in almost all-classic design, notably the capital of Corinthian column.

Acorn: Turned ornament resembling an acorn

 

Acroterium: In classical furniture, an ornament applied to the top corners of secretaries, bookcases, highboys, and other furniture.

Alcove: a recess in the wall of a room

 

All Wood     All Wood furniture can be made of solid wood or Wood products such lumber, veneers, plywood, particleboard, chip board and composition board.  Could be either hardwood or softwood.

Amaranth: Purplish wood used for veneering. Also called "violet wood" and "purple heart."

Ambry: recess in church: a small recess near the altar in a church, where sacred vessels are kept

Angel Bed: a bed with a canopy but no front support.

 

Aniline     These leathers come from the finest selection of hides and generally are the most expensive, pristine and least processed. Aniline dyes permeate the hide completely and add transparent color but offer no protection from fading or staining. Pure aniline leathers are a good choice if you strive for the finer things in life and appreciate rare, natural beauty. Pure aniline appeals to the senses and offers a sensational, soft hand. Each pure aniline hide has its own natural characteristics such as color shading, scars and even brandings, making each hide unique. While pure aniline leather is buttery soft and will age beautifully, it may not be the best choice for an active family room because of its lack of stain protection.

Within the category of anilines, some manufacturers offer pull-up leathers. This is a style of leather that has a wax or oil-based color applied after finishing. Where it is pulled, the color is lighter. It makes for a mottled, aged appearance, somewhat like a bomber jacket. Pull-up leathers also offer outstanding durability.

Antique: a collectible decorative or household object, often a piece of furniture, which is valued because of its age

 

Antique Finish     to treat something, especially a new object, so that it looks antique or worn with time

Apron: skirt or rail usually seen under a dining table.

Armoire: freestanding cupboard: a tall cupboard or wardrobe, often ornately decorated. Originally, an armoire was used for storing weapons.

 

Attached Pillow Back     Back cushions on upholstered items that appear to be loose but which may not be removed.

 

Backing:  A protective coating on the reverse side of Upholstery fabric designed to provide strength

 

Ball-and-Claw: with animal’s claw holding a ball: having a foot or another part modeled in the shape of an animal’s claw holding a ball

Banding: inlay or marquetry which produces a color or grain contrasting with the surface.

 

Baseball Stitching:  A double row of stitching which runs along both sides of a seam. Both decorative and structural.

Biedermeier: in German 19thC style: belonging to or typical of a highly conventional neoclassical style of home decoration and furnishing that was popular among the middle class in 19th-century Germany

Bergere: cane-backed seat: a type of chair or sofa with sides and back made of woven cane

Block front chest: a bookcase, chest or china cabinet of three sections, the center section deeper or shallower than the outer sides.

Bombe: An outward swelling / curve. Commonly seen in commodes, bureaus, armoires, night tables.

Boston Rocker: high-backed rocking chair: a rocking chair with a seat that curves up to meet a high back

Break Front: with middle section sticking out: used to describe a piece of furniture, for example, a cabinet or bookcase, with a central section that juts forward slightly

Brocades: fabric with raised design: a heavy fabric of silk, cotton, or wool woven with a raised design, often using metallic threads. A true brocade is based on one or two basic colors with additional colored threads brought from the back to the front to produce the raised design.

 

Buffet: dining-room serving table: a piece of dining-room furniture with drawers for tableware, used for storing table items and for serving dishes. 
Also called a sideboard

 

Buffing    A mechanical process for removing scars and scratches from leather hides.

Bun Foot: a flattened ball, or bun shape, with a slender ankle above.

Burl: knotty wood: knotty wood or a decorative veneer made from it

 

Button-Tufting:  The use of buttons to create and accentuate tufting.
 
Cabriole: furniture leg: a curving furniture leg tapering into a decorative foot that is often carved to look like an animal’s paw, popular in the early 18th century

 

California King:  Bed dimension of 72" wide and 84" long. The California King is 4” longer than an Eastern King but it is 4” less wide.

Cane: woven stems: the stems of various palms and grass plants, for example, rattan, woven together to make furniture, baskets, and other household items

Casegood: Wooden furniture not associated with upholstery and fabric.

 

Casters: small wheel under furniture: a small wheel on a mount that allows it to turn in all directions, attached under the corners of furniture and other heavy objects to make them easier to move

Chandelier: hanging light with branches: a decorative hanging light with several branches and holders for candles or light bulbs

 

Center Match Fabric:  Placement of a fabrics design component in the center of a cushion.  The same component appears in the center of each cushion.

Chiffonier: chest of drawers: a relatively tall narrow chest of drawers that often has a mirror attached to the back.  Also referred to as a semanier.

Chintz: 1. brightly colored glazed fabric: a glazed fabric made of cotton and usually printed with a brightly colored pattern 2. printed cotton fabric from India: a printed or stained calico fabric made in India

 

Cleaning Code:  One of four letters (W, W-S, S, X). Part of an industry code used for upholstered furniture that indicates  the method to be used to clean different materials.  S=Mild water free solvent, W-S=Mild solvent or upholstery shampoo, W=Clean with foam only from a water based non-solvent product, X=Clean by vacuuming or light brushing to prevent accumulation of dust. 

 

Club Chair: solid armchair: a heavily upholstered chair with a low back and thick arms

Club Foot: a turned foot, resembling a club: usually applied to cabriole leg.

Colorways: Various color schemes or range of colors in which a pattern or design is available.

 

Com: Stands for customer’s own material  Some manufacturers will allow customers to send their own fabric to be used to make their upholstered furniture.

 

Contrasting Welts: Process of using welts of a different color or material than the upholstery material.

 

Corduroy: ribbed cotton fabric: a heavy cotton fabric with a ribbed nap running lengthwise

 

Corner Blocks: Triangular pieces of Wood used to stabilize joints on a wooden frame.

 

Corrected Grain Leather: Removal of the natural grain by mechanical means and embossing a hide with an artificial grain or design.

 

Cover:  The Upholstery fabric used as the outer covering of a sofa or chair. A "cover" can be either fabric or vinyl

 

Cowhide:  Industry term used to describe the leather hide from a cow that averages 45-55 square feet.

 

Crotch Veneer:  A veneer cut from the branching point of a tree.

Cyma Curve: a distinctive 's' shaped curve indicative of Queen Anne furniture.

 

Dacron: a trademark for a synthetic polyester fabric or fiber

Damask: patterned fabric: a reversible fabric, usually of cotton, linen, or silk, with a pattern woven into it. It is used especially for table linen.

Dentil Moldings: decorative moldings, consisting of blocks and spaces, and resembling teeth, usually seen at the top of furniture.

Distressing: Creating a marred, pocked, scratches or dented surface, which provides an antique look to furniture.

Dhurrie Rug: flat woven wool, or cotton, rug with stylized East Indian motifs.

 

Double Bed:  Also known as a full size, a double bed measures 54 inches wide by 74 inches long.

 

Double Extra Long:  A bed that measures 54 inches wide by 80 inches long.

Down: Duck or goose feathers used to fill cushions of upholstery.  Usually found on more expensive furniture.

 

Drum Dyeing: Also referred to as vat dyeing.  Process of spinning leather hides in a drum to ensure an even dye penetration.

 

Eight-Way Hand-Tied: Industry term referring to the craft of hand tying coil springs into an upholstered frame.

Embossing: decorate something with raised pattern: to decorate or mark a surface with a slightly raised design or lettering

Escutcheon: protective shield: a plate or shield fixed around something, for example, a light switch or keyhole, as an ornament or to protect the surrounding surface

 

Exposed Trim:  The exposed wood on an upholstered piece of furniture.  Could be either structural or decorative.

 

Fat Wrinkles:  Leather characteristics such as wrinkles in the grain of the Leather which are caused by naturally occurring fat deposits.

Fiberboard: compressed wood fiber: building material made by compressing wood fibers into sheets

Filling: process in furniture finishing, where holes in wood are filled, creating a smooth flat surface.
 
Finial: furniture decoration: an ornamental feature, for example, a carved knob, on the top or end of a part of a piece of furniture

Flutes: groove in column: a groove running down an architectural column or leg

 

Foam: Usually made of polyurethane and used for cushioning in upholstered furniture.

Fretwork: ornamental woodwork with open pattern: ornamental woodwork made by cutting many holes in a piece of wood with a fretsaw to create an intricate pattern of wood and spaces

 

Full Grain: Leather in which the natural grain pattern has not been mechanically corrected. The natural markings are visible on these hides.
 
Gallery Rail: A brass rail found on the top of a buffet or server.

Gilding: covering something with gold: the process of applying a thin layer of gold leaf, or something that looks like gold, to a surface

Glaze: Process used to highlight wood characteristics

 

Hand: Industry term which describes the feel of Leather.

 

Hardwood:  Term used to describe wood derived from broad-leafed trees such oak, beech, maple, mahogany and walnut. Some hardwoods are actually softer than “softwoods”.
 
Headboard: board at head of bed: an upright board, often padded or covered in fabric, used to form the head of a bed

 

Hides: Animal skins -  usually cattle. “leather”

Highlighting: finishing technique used to emphasize or enhance the natural grain patterns in wood

Hutch: china cabinet: a cupboard with drawers and usually open shelves on top, often used for storing and displaying dishes and kitchen utensils

Inlay: decorate something with an inlaid design: to decorate something such as a piece of furniture by setting pieces of wood, stone, ivory, or other material into its surface

 

Inverted Seam: A Seam that joins fabric from the underside. Creates a welt less seam.
 
Jacobean: used to describe a 1600’s English furniture style with a medieval appearance and dark finish.

 

Kick Pleat: Pleated skirt on the bottom of upholstered furniture.

 

Kiln Dried: Heating process used to remove the moisture from wood. Helps to prevent splitting and cracking.

 

Knock Down: Unassembled furniture

Lacquer: glossy synthetic coating: a hard, glossy, clear or colored coating made up of resins or cellulose derivatives and a plasticizer in a volatile solvent

Laminate: bond layers together: to bond sheets or layers together so as to produce a strong and durable composite material.  Wood veneers are laminated to produce a cheap and durable alternative to more expensive hardwoods for furniture making.

Lattice: crisscross framework: an interwoven open-mesh frame made by crisscrossing strips of wood, metal, or plastic to form a pattern. 

 

Left-Facing: The left-hand side of a piece of furniture when viewing the furniture from the front.

 

Liming: Chemical process used to remove the hair and epidermis from a leather hide.

 

Loose Pillows: A style of sofa, loveseat or chair that has separate detachable pillows for back support.
 
Marquetry: decorative designs made of inlaid materials: designs or pictures made of thin pieces of wood, metal, shell, or other materials, inlaid in a wood veneer and often applied as decoration to pieces of furniture

Married Cover: Furniture manufacturers often buy fabric or leather in limited styles but large quantities in order to receive better pricing from their suppliers.  They pass this savings along to their retailers who in turn pass the savings on to the final consumer.  Choices are limited but pricing is more aggressive.

Moiré: wavy pattern on fabric: a shiny finish and wavy pattern on fabric, especially silk, created by using engraved rollers

 

Nail-Head Trim: Decorative heads are used on nails or a simulated nail- head strip to accentuate a style on upholstered furniture.

 

Nubuck: Nu-buck is a pure aniline, top-grain leather that has been buffed for softness to produce a very fine nap. It is more beautiful, durable and much softer than suede. Shade, grain and color variations should be expected throughout the hide.
 
Ogee: S-shaped molding: a decorative molding with an ogee-shaped profile. Commonly used in Chippendale case goods. Exhibits a double cyma-curve shape.

 

Ottoman:  Footstool for a chair or the footrest on a reclining chair

Overlay: apply decoration to surface: to apply a decorative material to a surface such as a trim piece of wood on a flat surface.

 

Parquet: blocks of wood laid in a decorative geometric pattern

Pattern: a repeated decorative design, for example, on fabric

Pediment: gable on colonnade: a broad triangular or segmental gable surmounting a colonnade as seen on many casegoods.

 

Pigmenting: Process of dyeing the topcoat of a leather hide.  Very durable product.

Polyurethane: synthetic plastic: any of a group of thermoplastic polymers that are used in resins, coatings, insulation, adhesives, foams, and fibers. They contain the NHCOO chemical group.  Also referred to as urethane.

 

Pop Up Recliner: A reclining chair in which the head rest pops up from inside the back of the chair when moved into a reclining position.
 
Recliner: reclining chair: a chair that tilts back to a sloping or almost horizontal position, often with a footrest that can be raised, allowing the person sitting in it to rest more comfortably
Reeding: a series of semi-circular, ornamental grooves, which run the length of a post or leg on casegoods.

 

Right-Facing: The right-hand side of a piece of furniture when viewed by looking at the furniture from the front.

Rococo: a style of architecture and the decorative arts characterized by intricate ornamentation that was popular throughout Europe in the early 18th century

 

Seasoning: The process of removing moisture from Wood through either air or kiln drying.

Semanier: Seven drawer lingerie chest

 

Semi-Aniline Leather: Hides that have been aniline dyed throughout and have a protective topcoat.

Serpentine: winding: winding and twisting, with many bends and curves

Sideboard: furniture for tableware storage: a piece of dining room furniture with a flat top and drawers and cupboards to store tableware and linens.  Also called a buffet

 

Skirt: fabric found on the bottom edge of upholstered pieces of furniture. to provide something with an attachment shaped like a skirt or border

 

Softwoods: Woods from cone bearing tree with needle-like leaves such as Pine, Spruce and fir.

Solids & Veneers: Furniture made out of "solids and veneers" can be made of hardWoods and softWoods, veneers, reconstituted Wood products (particleboard, composition board, chip core), plyWood, and materials such as artificial laminates.

Spade Foot: projection on chair leg: a spade-shaped projection at the bottom of a chair leg

 

Spindle: spindle-shaped piece of wood: a long thin piece of wood such as a table leg or baluster that is shaped like a spindle

 

Splits: The second cut of leather.  After the top grain cut. Used for suede and lower quality Leather furniture.

Spring Down: a cushion construction used in upholstery, which employs coil springs wrapped with urethane, and surrounded with down.  Provides ample support with a high level of comfort

Staining: finish for coloring something: a liquid that is applied to something, especially wood, to darken it or change its color without hiding its texture or grain

Stretcher: bar bracing furniture legs: a bar that joins and braces the legs of a chair, table, or other piece of furniture

 

Suede: leather with velvety surface: leather with the flesh side outward and rubbed to make a velvety nap

 

Swatch: A sample of Upholstery fabric.

 

Tanning: The chemical and mechanical process of treating hides in order to preserve them and enhance the natural beauty.

Tapestry: fabric with woven design: a heavy fabric with a woven pattern or picture, used as a wall hanging or for upholstery

Top Grain:  The top layer and highest quality part of a hide. Usually found on better quality Upholstery.

 

Tufting: The process of drawing a cord through a thick cushion giving high puffs of padding and small low valleys where the cord is drawn.

Tuxedo: Upholstery style in which the arms are the same height as the back.

 

Tweed: a fairly rough, thick woolen fabric often made with several different shades of wool to give it a distinctive flecked appearance