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Source material for these definitions have been referenced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Exceptions are “redesign” and “Home Accessories".
Interior Design
Interior Decoration
Redesign
Organizing
Furniture & Furnishings
Fabric & Textiles
Paint & Colors
Bedding
Home Staging
Real Estate Broker
The Difference between Salespersons and Brokers
Realtors
Real Estate
Living Room
Bedroom
Kitchen
Dining Room
Nursery & Kid’s Room
Sell This House!
Design on a Dime
Home Accessories
Interior design
Interior design is the process of shaping the experience of interior space, through the manipulation of spatial volume as well as surface treatment. Not to be confused with interior decoration, interior design draws on aspects of environmental psychology, architecture, and product design in addition to traditional decoration. An interior designer is a person who is considered a professional in the field of interior design or one who designs interiors as part of their job. Interior design is a creative practice that analyzes programmatic information, establishes a conceptual direction, refines the design direction, and produces graphic communication and construction documents. In some jurisdictions, interior designers must be licensed to practice.
Difference between interior design and interior decorating
The term interior design (and by extension, interior designer) is different from interior decorating (and likewise, interior decorator), although some use these terms interchangeably.
An interior decorator applies decorating principles to beautify a space. Although an "interior designer" can also make aesthetic changes to an interior space, the interior designer is a professional licensed and/or registered with a licensing authority who coordinates design projects with a holistic approach in spatial design. This effort includes designing the interior architecture, in addition to beautifying the space.
Education requirements are less technical for an interior decorator than for an interior designer. While an interior decorator requires no formal mandated education or licensing requirements, an interior designer must meet both education and licensing requirements of the licensing jurisdiction, and the designer must be well versed and knowledgeable technically in the building and safety codes that can affect changes to interior spaces.
Interior decoration
Interior decoration or décor is the art of decorating a room so that it is attractive, easy to use, and functions well with the existing architecture. The goal of interior decoration is to provide a certain "feel" for the room; it encompasses applying wallpaper, painting walls and other surfaces, choosing furniture and fittings, such as light fixtures, floor plans and providing other decorations for the area such as paintings, sculptures and carpets. In some cases, interior decorating is performed professionally by certified interior decorators (C.I.D.)
Although the terms interior decorating and interior design are sometimes used interchangeably, each discipline exhibit a distinct difference in its scope. Interior decorating is generally focused on the selection and presentation of interior items within a space, such as furniture, accessories, finishes and room layout. Interior design, on the other hand, involves manipulating the architectural integrity of the interior space.
An interior decorator applies decorating principles to beautify a space.
While an interior decorator requires no formal mandated education or licensing requirements, an interior designer must meet both education and licensing requirements of the licensing jurisdiction, and the designer must be well versed and knowledgeable technically in the building and safety codes that can affect changes to interior spaces.
Room theme
A theme is a consistent idea used throughout a room to create a feeling of completeness. These themes often follow period styles. Examples of this are Louis XV, Victorian or Art Deco. The evolution of interior decoration themes has now grown to include themes not necessarily consistent with a specific period style allowing the mixing of pieces from different periods. Each element should contribute to form or function or both and maintain a consistent standard of quality and combine to create the desired design.
Redesign
Remember, the focus of our website is on Redesign. This is sometimes referred to as a “room makeover”.
Redesign Defined - Redesigning indicates using a home owners existing furnishings and adding only select accessories and rearranging these pieces to create a more cohesive theme within a given room. Redesign is growing in popularity as an alternative to interior design or interior decorating. The reason being is that redesign is cost effective. It all boils down to home accessories. Redesigning does not require the purchase of major pieces of furnishings or furniture (things such as couches, dressers, living room sets, dining room tables, etc.). The focus is on using what you already own and simply making adjustments to wall color, adding drapes perhaps, repositioning furniture, de-cluttering. Adding greenery and plants, minor home accessories such as vases, books, mirrors, art, all help redesign your room.
Most people’s homes are not livable spaces. Many people rely on simple function without giving consideration to cohesive design. Placing a desk, chair, and rug in a room may be functional, but certainly could not be considered livable. Livable indicates a warmth, an “at home” feeling. This can be a tricky concept for some. Again home accessories can be the key.
After all, it can be simple to choose what furnishings you would like at the furniture store. But positioning such items once they are taken home from that furniture store can be a challenge. Adding accessories to the home that properly accompany the furniture can be a bigger challenge still.
A trip to the furniture store, paint store, going over color swatches can be a daunting task, but choosing the basics is usually a safe bet. If your unsure of what kind of furniture to purchase, its best to keep it simple, the same goes for that trip to the paint store. Home accessories and or wall color can make all the difference. Quirky home accessories can be added later to personalize your tastes. But as far as major pieces go stick to the basics, basic colors, basic patterns, or a trip to the furniture store could mean regret later. Redesign is a great way to make your house a home.
Organizing
Professional organizing often involves the development or introduction of customized or off-the-shelf organizing systems so the client can find needed items in a minimal amount of time. The organizer's primary skill is in helping the client decide what should be done with their items, educating the client on organizational techniques, and developing strategies and installing systems so the client can maintain the organized space for the long-term. According to the National Association of Professional Organizers, a professional organizer "enhances the lives of clients by designing systems and processes using organizing principles and through transferring organizing skills. A professional organizer also educates the public on organizing solutions and the resulting benefits. Professional organizers help individuals and businesses take control of their surroundings, their time, their paper, and their systems for life." The organizer may also act as a "coach" by encouraging the client to part with their unnecessary or unused items to enable them to achieve the goal of a simpler, less cluttered lifestyle. The client makes the final determination as to the status of any particular item. One of the reasons for retaining the services of a professional organizer is to have a person (the organizer) who is not sentimentally connected to the items act as a neutral arbiter, which often facilitates and speeds the decluttering process.
Usually, the process involves a minimum of three steps:
Removing — the organizer will remove the items from the cluttered area so as to visualize the total space available and to start fresh.
Sorting — the organizer may work with the client, or may work largely alone, and will sort the items into different piles. These piles may consist of any or all of the following: "keep", "throw", "donate", "sell", "fix/repair", and/or "give to friends." The client is usually required at some point to determine the final status of the items.
Replacing — the organizer may introduce organizational products like bins, shelves, or filing systems. The goal of the "replacing" stage is to create a visually appealing area that is customized so that the client can easily retrieve what they are looking for, and can maintain the "system" with minimal effort.
Furniture & Furnishings
Furniture is the collective term for the movable objects which may support the human body (seating furniture and beds), provide storage, or hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. Storage furniture (which often makes use of doors, drawers, and shelves) is used to hold or contain smaller objects such as clothes, tools, books, and household goods. (See List of furniture types.)
Furniture can be a product of artistic design and is considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. Domestic furniture works to create, in conjunction with furnishings such as clocks and lighting, comfortable and convenient interior spaces. Furniture can be made from many materials, including metal, plastic, and wood.
Cabinetry and cabinet making are terms for the skillset used in the building of furniture.
Furniture types
Storage:
• Bookcase
• Cabinet (furniture)
• Chest
• China cabinet
• Cupboard
• Curio cabinet
• Dresser (Chest of drawers)
• Filing cabinet
• Hall Tree
• Hatstand
• Sideboard
• Wardrobe
Seating:
• Bean bag
• Bench
• Chair
• Couch
• Footstool
• Love seat
• Ottoman
• Recliner
• Settee
• Sofa (couch)
• Stool (type of chair)
• Tuffet
Surfaces:
• Coffee table
• Desk
• End table
• Folding table
• Table
Sets:
• Bedroom set (group)
• Dinette (group)
• Dining set (group)
• Vanity set
Other:
• Aquarium furniture
• Bed
• Built-in furniture (see: Frank Lloyd Wright
• Door furniture
• Folding Screen
• Headboard
• Hutch
• Park furniture (such as benches and picnic tables)
• Stadium seating
• Street furniture
Lamps are covered under furnishings or lighting.
Fabric & Textiles
The words fabric and cloth are commonly used in textile assembly trades (such as tailoring and dressmaking) as synonyms for textile. However, there are subtle differences in these terms. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres. Fabric refers to any material made through weaving, knitting, crocheting, or bonding. Cloth refers to a finished piece of fabric that can be used for a purpose such as covering a bed.
Compared to the other two classes, knitted fabrics are much more elastic, which accounts for their historical use in stockings and other clothing that requires changes in shape. Hence, dresses and lingerie made from knitted fabrics can be more form-fitting than counterparts made from a woven fabric. Knit fabrics can stretch from 0 to 500%, depending on their material and knitting pattern. Lace knitting generally produces the most flexible fabric, since it has large holes that can deform in shape; by contrast, cable knitting generally produces the least flexible fabric, since the stitches are crossed under tension, which inhibits deformation. Knitted fabrics that do not deform much are called stable knits. For comparison, woven fabrics typically deform only along their bias direction — i.e., at 45° to the warp and weft directions — and only by a small amount; however, a woven fabric made with a stretchable material such as Lycra may deform more than a stable knit.
The elasticity of woven fabrics gives them an excellent drape, but this is opposed somewhat by their generally greater thickness compared to wovens. Thus, the turn of the cloth (i.e., the maximum curvature of a fold of the fabric) is generally finer in woven fabrics than in knitted fabrics. For this reason, knitted fabrics resist wrinkles better than wovens, but do not take a crease in general.
Painting & Colors
Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.
Paint is used to protect, decorate (such as adding color), or add functionality to an object or surface by covering it with a pigmented coating. An example of protection is to retard corrosion of metal. An example of decoration is to add festive trim to a room interior. An example of added functionality is to modify light reflection or heat radiation of a surface.
As a verb, painting is the application of paint. Someone who paints artistically is usually called a painter, while someone who paints commercially is often referred to as a painter and decorator, or house painter.
Paint can be applied to almost any kind of object. It is used, among many other uses, in the production of art, in industrial coating, as a driving aid (road surface marking), or as a barrier to prevent corrosion or water damage. Paint is a semifinished product, as the final product is the painted article itself.
COLOR
The color table should not be interpreted as a definitive list – the pure spectral colors form a continuous spectrum, and how it is divided into distinct colors is a matter of culture, taste, and language. A common list identifies six main bands: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Newton's conception included a seventh color, indigo, between blue and violet – but most people do not distinguish it, and most color scientists do not recognize it as a separate color; it is sometimes designated as wavelengths of 420–440 nm. The chart shown here, however, does identify a seventh main color band: cyan, located between green and blue.
The intensity of a spectral color may alter its perception considerably; for example, a low-intensity orange-yellow is brown, and a low-intensity yellow-green is olive-green.
Bedding
Bedding refers to the materials laid above the mattress of a bed for warmth. Bedding excludes the mattress, box spring and bed frame. Down materials are often used for warmth in bedding. To seek bedding means a person will retire for sleep, to his or her bedding.
Bed Spread: A bed cover with sides that go to the floor. This does not require a bed skirt.
Comforter: A filled bed cover that is quilted and usually reversible. They require a bed skirt to complete the look, as the sides only go about halfway to the floor.
Thread Count: The number of thread ends per square inch in a woven fabric
Bed Skirt (also Bed Ruffle, Dust Ruffle or Valance): A decorative piece used to cover the box spring and legs of the bed. It fits between the mattress and box spring and hangs to the floor.
Drop: The length of a bed skirt.
Pleated: Sewn in folds like a fan
Flanged: Including a decorative band of fabric that is straight or tailored; often used to describe pillows or pillow shams
Pillow Shams: Decorative coverings for pillows, often designed with trims, ruffles, flanges, or cording. Shams are normally placed behind the pillows used to sleep on, which would be covered with regular pillowcases.
European Sham (or Euro Sham): A decorative pillow covering which fits a large 26” x 26” pillow. These are often placed behind the standard size pillow shams as a backdrop for all of the other pillows.
Tailored: Fitted closely ie made to fit the bed exactly
Boudoir Pillows (or Breakfast Pillows): Small rectangular decorative throw pillows.
Duvet Cover: A decorative and protective covering for a duvet. Most duvet covers have a button or tie closure at one end.
Neckroll: Small cylindrical decorative throw pillows
Home Staging
Home staging is the act of preparing a private residence prior to going up for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to sell a home quickly, and for the most money possible. Staging focuses on improving a property to make it welcoming, appealing, and attractive to the largest generic audience of potential homebuyers. Staging often raises the value of a property by way of repairs, re-decorating, renovations, and landscaping. For vacant homes, rental furniture will accent very nicely. Properly executed staging leads the eye to attractive features while minimizing flaws.
Many techniques are used to stage a property. De-cluttering, depersonalizing, updating old or unattractive fixtures, painting, furniture rearrangement, rental furniture and accessorizing are just some of the changes used to make a home more inviting to potential buyers.
Since a typical home buyer decides if they are attracted to a home or not in the first 8 seconds of seeing it, curb appeal is generally viewed as a vital aspect of the staging process. Therefore, curb appeal, the practice of improving a home’s exterior appeal, is used alongside interior improvements.
It has been shown that homes containing furniture and accessories sell more quickly than vacant homes, because the potential buyers realize what can actually be done with the place. They may realize that the room is actually a lot larger than it would look without furnishings. Rental of furniture and decorative accessories is a common solution when selling brand new properties that have never been occupied, or those where homeowners have already vacated the property.
Spaciousness and light often determine the success of a staged home. Typically, the larger a room appears, the better it will seem to homebuyers. Dark, tight spaces create a poor impression and may prevent the home from selling. Furniture layouts should create an impression of openness and comfort. Non-essential items should be removed to minimize crowding and clutter
Religious items, personal photos, awards, certificates and cultural items are often removed to downplay the presence of current homeowners. This helps potential homebuyers to not only feel more at ease during viewings, but allows them to focus on the property itself while also imagining their own.
Real estate broker
A real estate broker is a party who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate and attempts to find sellers who wish to sell and buyers who wish to buy. In the United States, the relationship was originally established by reference to the English common law of agency with the broker having a fiduciary relationship with his clients.
In the US, real estate brokers and their salespersons (commonly called "real estate agents") assist sellers in marketing their property and selling it for the highest possible price under the best terms. When acting as a Buyer's agent with a signed agreement (or, in many cases, verbal agreement), they assist buyers by helping them purchase property for the best possible price under the best terms. Without a signed agreement, brokers may assist buyers in the acquisition of property but still represent the seller and the seller's interests.
In most jurisdictions in the United States, a person is required to have a license in order to receive remuneration for services rendered as a real estate broker. Unlicensed activity is illegal, but buyers and sellers acting as principals in the sale or purchase of real estate are not required to be licensed. In some states, lawyers are allowed to handle real estate sales for compensation without being licensed as brokers or agents.
Real estate broker: After gaining some years of experience in real estate sales, a salesperson may decide to become licensed as a real estate broker. Commonly more course work and a broker's state exam on real estate law must be passed. Upon obtaining a broker's license, a real estate agent may continue to work for another broker in a similar capacity as before (often referred to as a broker associate or associate broker) or take charge of his/her own brokerage and hire other salespersons (or broker) licensees. Becoming a branch office manager may or may not require a broker's license. Some states such as New York allow licensed attorneys to become real estate brokers without taking any exam. In states, such as Colorado, there are no "salespeople", as all licensees are Brokers.
The difference between salespersons and brokers
In the past, when brokers (and their agents) only represented sellers, the term ‘’real estate salesperson’’ may have been more appropriate than it is today, given the different ways that brokers and their agents can help a buyer through the process rather than simply “sell’’ him or her a property. Legally however, the term 'salesperson' is still used in many states to describe a real estate agent.
Real estate salesperson: When a person first becomes licensed to become a real estate agent, he/she obtains a real estate salesperson's license from the state in which he/she will practice. To obtain a real estate license, the candidate must take specific coursework (of between 40 and 90 hours) and then pass a state exam on real estate law and practice. In order to work, salespersons must then be associated with (and act under the authority of) a real estate broker.
Many states also have reciprocal agreements with other states, allowing a licensed individual from a qualified state to take the second state's exam without completing the course requirements, or, in some cases, take only a state law exam.
Real estate broker: After gaining some years of experience in real estate sales, a salesperson may decide to become licensed as a real estate broker. Commonly more course work and a broker's state exam on real estate law must be passed. Upon obtaining a broker's license, a real estate agent may continue to work for another broker in a similar capacity as before (often referred to as a broker associate or associate broker) or take charge of his/her own brokerage and hire other salespersons (or broker) licensees.
National Association of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose members are known as Realtors is North America's largest trade association, representing over 1 million members (as reported in 2006), including NAR's institutes, societies, and councils, involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. NAR also functions as a Self Regulatory Organization for real estate brokerage.
NAR's membership is composed of residential and commercial real estate brokers, real estate salespeople, immovable property managers, appraisers, counselors, and others engaged in all aspects of the real estate (immovable property) industry, where a state license to practice is required. Members belong to one or more of some 1,600 local Associations of Realtors and Boards of Realtors in the 54 state and territory Associations of Realtors. They are pledged to a code of ethics and Standards of Practice, which includes duties to clients, the public, and other Realtors. .
The NAR wields substantial power as a lobbying organization on behalf of agents and brokers. In 2005, NAR had the largest Political Action Committee in the United States; it is also the 3rd largest donor in the 2004 Presidential Election. The National Association of Realtors is also a member of The Real Estate Roundtable, a policy group in Washington, D.C.
Real estate education: In order to become licensed, most states require that an applicant take a minimum number of classes before taking the state licensing exam. Such education is often provided by real estate brokerages as a means to finding new agents.
Today in many states, the real estate agent (acting as an agent of the broker with whom he/she is employed) is required to disclose to prospective buyers and sellers who represents whom. See below for a broker/agent’s relationship to sellers and their relationship to buyers.
While some people may refer to any licensed real estate agent as a real estate broker, a licensed real estate agent is a professional who has obtained either a real estate salesperson's license or a real estate broker's license.
Real Estate
Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings. Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property (also sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to the land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate.
The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property.
In law, the word real means relating to a thing (from Latin res/rei, thing), as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between [real property] (land and anything affixed to it) and [personal property] (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to.
Mortgages in real estate
In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich or poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans --bank loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action that lets them take back the property and sell it to get their money back. But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes.
Living Room
A living room, also known as sitting room (especially in the UK), lounge room or lounge (in the United Kingdom and Australia), is a room for entertaining guests, reading, watching TV or other activities.
In modern homes and apartments the living room has replaced the old fashioned parlour. In the 19th century, the parlour was the room in the house where the recently deceased were laid out before their funeral. This became the more affirmative term "living room" in the 20th century.
The term marks the twentieth-century effort of architects and builders to strip the parlour of its burial and mourning associations. Typically, a living room will be furnished with a sofa, chairs, occasional tables, perhaps a television and stereo equipment, bookshelves, as well as other pieces of furniture. Traditionally a sitting room in the United Kingdom would have a fireplace that burns logs, although now many have been converted to use gas (with imitation log) in more recent years.
In many homes, the living room is reserved for more formal and quiet entertaining while a separate recreation room or family room is used for more casual activities.
The term front room can also used to describe a living room, because in many homes the front door opens into the living room.
History
Prior to 1920 furniture was produced and sold with each item presented as a separate item. A sofa was conceived without the thought of a matching armchair; a bedroom chest was produced without thought of a matching bed.
In 1926 Nathan S. Ancell developed the concept of the bedroom set. He was a furniture manufacturer who realized that the furniture industry's future was limited by the long usage and small purchases of its products. He believed that a set could be transformed into a stylish product that might become outdated with time. This obsolescence would create the need for replacement product. Of course, the set would allow more product to be sold.
Bedroom
A bedroom is a room used primarily for sleep.It may or may not contain a bed.
In some cultures, dedicated bedrooms form an important part of a home. In others, spaces used primarily for other activities by day become bedrooms at night.
Function of bedrooms
Bedrooms are usually used for sleep, but in many homes, especially smaller homes, bedrooms also double as studies, equipped with a desk and computers, a bookshelf, and other similar objects. Some people enjoy playing musical instruments in their bedroom. Many bedrooms have TVs inside, allowing the rooms primary occupant(s) to enjoy TV regardless of what a TV in a main room is showing.
Bedroom furniture
Bedroom furniture, sometimes called a bedroom set or bedroom suite consists of a group of furniture in a bedroom or sleeping quarters. Pieces of furniture referred to as bedroom furniture usually include: beds, dressers, chests, nightstands, armoires, vanities, trunks, and mirrors. There are also many variations of these pieces as furniture styles have changed through time and as individual manufacturers have put their own spin on them.
Bedroom furniture is predominantly made of wood, but many bed frames are made of various metals as well.
One of the common traits of quality bedroom furniture is drawers fashioned together using a method called dovetailing or English dovetailing. This method involves the interlocking of two pieces of wood, usually at a right angle.
Bedroom set (group)
A bedroom set is a group of furniture sold as a unit, typically comprising a bed, nightstand, and wardrobe, sometimes also including a chest of drawers, dresser, mirror and/or chair.
KITCHEN
A kitchen is a room used for food preparation and sometimes entertainment. A modern kitchen is typically equipped with a stove and microwave oven and has a sink with water on tap for cleaning food and dishwashing. Modern kitchens often also feature a dishwasher. Some installations to store food usually also are present, either in the form of an adjacent pantry or more commonly cabinets and a refrigerator.
Although the main function of a kitchen is cooking, it can be the center of other activities as well, especially within homes, depending on its size, furnishing, and equipment. If a washing machine is present, washing and drying laundry is also done in the kitchen. The kitchen may also be the place where the family eats, provided it is large enough. Sometimes, it is the most comforting room in a house, where family and visitors tend to congregate.
This observation led to a few common kitchen forms, commonly characterized by the arrangement of the kitchen cabinets and sink, stove, and refrigerator:
• A single file kitchen has all of these along one wall; the work triangle degenerates to a line. This is not optimal, but often the only solution if space is restricted.
• The double file kitchen (also known as galley or corridor) has two rows of cabinets at opposite walls, one containing the stove and the sink, the other the refrigerator. This is the classical work kitchen.
• In the L-kitchen, the cabinets occupy two adjacent walls. Again, the work triangle is preserved, and there may even be space for an additional table at a third wall, provided it doesn't intersect the triangle.
• A U-kitchen has cabinets along three walls, typically with the sink at the base of the "U". This is a typical work kitchen, too, unless the two other cabinet rows are short enough to place a table at the fourth wall.
The block kitchen is a more recent development, typically found in open kitchens.
Dining Rooms
A typical North American dining room will contain a table with chairs arranged along the sides and ends of the table, as well as other pieces of furniture, (often used for storing formal china), as space permits.
In modern American homes, the dining room is increasingly used only for formal dining with guests or on special occasions. Informal daily meals are often taken in the kitchen or family room. This was traditionally the case in England, where the dining room would for many families be used only on Sundays, other meals being eaten in the kitchen. Often tables in modern dining rooms will have a removable leaf to allow for the larger number of people present on those special occasions without taking up extra space when not in use.
Although the "typical" family dining experience is at a wooden table or some sort of kitchen area. It is a better idea to make the situation more comfortable. Such as using couches, comfortable chairs, or a type of comfortable area. This helps the environment a more family friendly spacious area.
A dining room is a room for eating. It is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving.
History
In the middle ages, Britons in castles or large manor houses would eat in the Great Hall. This was a large multi-function room capable of seating the bulk of the population of the house. The family would sit at the head table on a raised dais, with the rest of the population arrayed in order of diminishing rank away from them. Tables in the great hall would tend to be long trestle tables with benches. The Great Hall would have been extremely noisy, and likely would have been quite smokey and malodorous, making it an unpleasant place to hold a discussion.
In response to the discomforts of dining in the Great Hall, the nobility began to construct parlours or drawing rooms off the Great Hall.
Nursery & Kid’s (room)
A bedroom within a house or other dwelling set aside for an infant or toddler. A typical nursery would contain a crib (or similar type of bed), a table or platform for the purpose of changing diapers, as well as various items required for the care of the child (such as baby powder and medicine). A nursery is generally designated for the smallest bedroom in the house, as a baby requires very little space until at least walking age; the premise being that the room is used almost exclusively for sleep. However, the room in many cases could remain the bedroom of the child well into his or her teenage years, or until a younger sibling is born, and the parents decide to move the older child into another larger bedroom, if one should be available.
An infant bed is a small bed (commonly referred to as a cot in British English and a crib in American English) specifically for infants.
Infant beds are typically used as a bed for a baby after it is no longer safe to leave them in a bassinet. Infant beds are more stable than bassinettes and become desirable when a baby can roll. They have a lower center of gravity, a broader base of support and can hold a larger baby than a bassinet.
Infant beds are designed to restrict the baby to the bed. The sides are too high for a baby to climb and provide no footholds. The thinking behind this design is that if baby wakes up, they will return to sleep rather than roam around the house. To improve the reliability of the confinement, a top (solid or fabric) may be added to an infant bed.
Placing a child into an infant bed can put strain on a caretaker's back. To reduce the strain on those operating an infant bed, many infant beds feature:
• a mattress that can be in a raised position until the child is able to sit upright.
• a drop side, a side which lowers to ease the process of putting the child into the bed, but can be raised again to restore the integrity of the enclosure.
Sell This House
Sell This House is a reality television series which started airing on the A&E (Arts and Entertainment) television network in 2003. Host Tanya Memme and designer Roger Hazard help homeowners who are having trouble selling their houses.
First, cameras are set up to record prospective buyers' reactions in a one-day open house. Afterwards, Hazard makes his evaluation. He, Memme, the sellers, and their friends and family then work to stage the house, fixing, minimizing or hiding any problems he has found, on a budget of a few hundred dollars. This generally involves painting, removing excess clutter and rearranging furniture. Finally, the same potential buyers are brought back for a second walkthrough.
Design on a Dime
Design on a Dime
(sometimes referred to as DoD) is a redesigning television series on HGTV. It features one or more people who want a room, etc. made better. The Design on a Dime team uses a $1000 budget typically and remakes the room. There have been a few variations, with episodes for weddings and more.
On television
Interior decoration has become a popular television subject. In the United Kingdom (UK), popular interior decorating programs include Changing Rooms (BBC) and Selling Houses (Channel 4). Famous interior designers whose work is featured in these programs include Linda Barker and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. In the United States, the TLC Network airs a popular program called Trading Spaces, a show with a format similar to the UK program Changing Rooms. In addition, both Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and the Discovery Home networks also televise many programs about interior design and decorating, featuring the works of a variety of interior designers, decorators and home improvement experts in a myriad of projects.
Our website is not affiliated with the above television programs including, “Sell This House” by A&E or “Design on a Dime” by HGTV
Home Accessories
Home Accessories are a vital part of decorating and home interior design. Some home accessories include clocks, plants, candles, mirrors, art, sculptures, pillows, decorative pillows, throws, and even unusual keepsakes. Things such as old suitcases, vases, even an old opera program or book, can make a fine home accessory.
It is the home accessory or home accessories that truly give the home personality when decorating. They define the style and can give your room a character all its own. Its always a safe bet to stick with classic items for your major pieces within your room. Couches with unusual fabrics and colors will not work for the most part for instance. But a simple earth toned couch with the proper accessories can really make that couch pop. Unusual throw pillows for instance can liven that couch up, but not so much that it becomes unappealing. Home accessories such throw pillows and other accessories can generally be changed easily as well and with minimal expense. Changing a couch however could be another story.
Remember to always add a bit of yourself into your home accessories. Items from your travels are always a good conversation piece. A home accessory should tell a story. Displaying books can be a nice touch on a mantle piece. Plants should not be underused as well. Greenery breaths life (literally) into a room and makes it appear warm and can take away that sterile uninviting aspect that some rooms may have. Softening a “boxy” appearance perhaps. Home accessories and just a home accessory really can do your room wonders.