Glossary

GENERAL FURNITURE TERMS

RTA -Ready to Assemble, furniture needing assembly

Right Arm Facing - The arm of the sofa or chaise is on your right side when you are facing the furniture. Most Chaises and Sectionals have an arm facing

Left Arm Facing - The arm of the sofa or chaise is on your left side when you are facing the furniture. Most Chaises and Sectionals have an arm facing

Flare - the outward curving shape of a furniture leg or arm

Bachelor's chest - small, low chest of drawers, somestimes referred to as a commode, or even nightstand

Commode - chest with drawers, usually referred to as nightstand or bachelor's chest

Box Spring - foundation of a mattress

Club Chair -upholstered chair whose arms are lower than its level back

Chiffonnier - side cabinet with or without a drawer and with one or more shelves

Harvest Table - narrow rectangular table with hinged drop leaves on at least two sides

Trestle Table - long, narrow table with two uprights joined by a single stretcher

Leg Table - table supported by 4 separate legs

Drop Leaf - table with hinged extension leaves which lower when not in use

Pedestal Table - table supported by a single, central base

Ladder-Back - chair-back in which horizontal cross tails, used instead of a spat, give a ladder effect

Motion Furniture - furniture containing a mechanism or mechanisms which allow it to adjust to your body for increased comfort, typically used in recliners

Settee - long seat or bench with a back and arms , seats two people or more

CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS

Kiln drying - is the process by which the moisture is removed from the wood, preventing it from warping and twisting at a later date

Double-doweled - method of joining two pieced of wood which uses tow dowel pins instead of one to ensure no shifting Dovetail - interlocking joint on a piece of furniture, usually used on drawers for added stability

Bentwood - wood that has been steamed and bent into a curved shape

Veneer - thin sheets of wood applied to a solid or engineered wood for a decorative finish

Dowel - headless pin usually made of wood used in wood construction

Hardwoods - oak, ash, cherry, maple, walnut, and poplar

Soft Woods - pine, cedar, redwood, spruce

MDF -Medium Density Fiberboard - a type of hardboard that is made from wood fibers glued under heat and pressure, dense, flat, stiff, and has no knots, does not have easily recognizable surface grain, usually finished in paint, veneers, or laminates

Engineered Wood - wood made from slices of lumber (plywood) or the chips and fibers that remain after a tree is milled into lumber (particleboard, fiberboard)



SOFA TERMINOLOGY

Knole sofa - a traditional English sofa that features hinged arms that can be raised or lowered

Chesterfield - traditionally a deep-buttoned sofa with arms and a back at the same height

Lawson sofa - loose back and seat, low rolled arms; is easy to lie on

Sectional sofa - modular pieces that offer maximum flexibility

Modular Seating -u pholstered seating units which can be joined and rearranged with other units to form different seating arrangements

Attached-Back Pillow - pillow which cannot be removed from the upholstered piece of furniture

Camelback - sofa back that is carved in shape; with a large, central hump

Loose-pillow Back - pillow which can be removed from an upholstered piece of furniture

Rolled Arms - arms which flare out and then down to meet the sides of a chair or sofa

Tuxedo Arms - slightly flared arms that are the same height as the back

Skirt - piece of fabric at the bottom of a sofa, loveseat, or chair that hangs for decorative purposes



LEATHER DEFINITIONS

Top Grain Leather - When hides have been tanned to produce leather for upholstery, they are split to produce a uniform thickness of leather. The hides are fed through a splitting machine with the grain side up, yielding a grain portion called Top Grain. This is the section of a hide that contains the epidermis or skin layer. The fiber structure is compact which gives it a higher tensile strength or resistance to tear, a softer feel and a wonderful draping quality. The hair is later removed before being "corrected". The underneath or flesh layer that is cut off is called a split.

If the top surface does not have much damage on it, usually caused by insect bites, branding or barbed wire scratches, then it can be used as is and is considered Full Grain. If the top surface has to be altered to enable it to be used, then a layer is shaved or sanded off to remove the damage. The surface is then embossed or stamped with a uniform "grain". This is then called Top Grain.

Full Grain is the best quality leather there is, but it is incorrect to say that Top Grain is not real leather. Top Grain leather is not as susceptible to minor damage due to scratching as Full Grain leather and is typically much less expensive.

Bycast Leather, Bi Cast Leather - is desired for its unique shine and easy care. It is a combination of natural leather hides processed and bonded to a man-made surface covering and then coated with a thick layer of polyurethane. In addition to the highly desirable "shiny" look, the coating helps prevent scratching, gives it a higher resistance to sunlight fading and is an excellent dirt-repelling surface. Bycast can be a top grain or split hide but in either case it is ironed very smooth to remove most of the natural graining. To clean, simply use a damp towel. Heat from a hairdryer can be used to remove light scratches.

Bonded Leather - or reconstituted leather, is an artificial material composed of 80% to 100% leather fibers (often waste scraps from leather tanneries or leather workshops). It consists of collagen fibers obtained from macerated hide pieces bonded together with latex binders constructed into a fibrous mat to create a look and feel similar or sometimes identical to that of genuine leather but at a fraction of the cost. Depending on the quality a man-made pattern is usually discernible as a "grain-like" look.

Split Leather- A split leather is a lower grain leather commonly used by promotional manufacturers on the outer surfaces of upholstery. Unlike top grain leathers, splits are course to the touch, lack draping quality and are prone to cracking. Manufacturers that advertise 100% leather instead of 100% top grain are generally using a combination of top grain with splits..

Regenerated Leather - A process for manufacturing regenerated leather characterized by preparing a short-fiber and a long-fiber leather pulps from wasted natural leather; sending the two kinds of pulps separately to a refrigerator for freezing and then drying in a vacuum dryer; thus forming two sheets of cake-like leather by combining the two sheets to one and dipping with proper bonding agent, the long-fiber leather sheet is fluffed by a fluff-forming machine thus to form a regenerated natural leather.

Full Grain Leather - Full grain means that the natural grain of the animal's skin remains. Just as our own finger prints vary, so will the natural grain of a cow's skin. Thus, grain variations are clearly visible. Also clearly visible will be any natural markings such as healed scars, insect bites, neck and belly wrinkles, etc. Softest hand available in a fully pigmented (painted) leather due to natural grain.

• Offers very high resistance to staining and soiling from body oils and liquids.
• Hides are aniline dyed all the way through for base color.
• Protective, pigmented topcoat applied for final color and protection.
• No Shade variation
• Minimal visibility of natural markings such as brands, insect bites, healed scars.
• Natural grain of skin remains (i.e. Full Grain) making grain variation visible.
• Fat wrinkles, stretch marks and backbone are not visible.
• Less susceptible to fading than Pure Anilines, Nubuks and Semi-Anilines

• Least natural hand due to artificially embossed grain.
• Offers very high resistance to staining and soiling from body oils and liquids.
• Hides are aniline dyed all the way through for base coat color.
• Protective, pigmented topcoat applied for final color and protection.
• No Shade variation
• No natural markings visible such as brands, insect bites, healed scars.
• No grain variation.
• Fat wrinkles, stretch marks and backbone are not visible.
• Less susceptible to fading than Pure Anilines, Nubuks and Semi-Anilines

AREA RUG INFORMATION

Area rugs have had a variety of roles throughout the centuries of World History; Rugs have been used for means of trade and dowry. The finer the rug the more trading power it had. Every region of the world has different ways of describing the quality and density of their area rugs. In this glossary we explain some of the historical terminology we use to describe our rugs, their contents and the way they are made: *Information Courtesy of Linon

9/9 Agra - A hand knotting system used in Agra, India. This represents 81 Hand Knots per square inch.

Art Leather - Artificial leather (Faux Leather).

Artificial Silk - A man-made fiber to resemble silk, very durable; other names used are rayon and viscose.

Drysdale Wool - From sheep bred in Australia and New Zealand that are stocky in appearance and known to produce long stapled fleece of quality wool; very apt for carpet weaving.

Faux Mink - Artificial Mink.

Field - The part of an area rug's design surrounded by the border. The field may be blank or contain medallions or an over-all pattern.

Flat Weave - A flat weave area rug is any rug that is constructed without a pile. Here, colored weft yarns are woven through the warps to create the pattern. There are numerous varieties of flat weaves; kilims, leather, and cotton are just a few. Needlepoint is another type of flat weave that is created by weaving of the colored yarns through a pre-made scrim, or grid-like backing.

Foundation - The combination of warps and wefts in the body of an area rug.

Friction Bath - A process of washing the area rugs in a big "vat-like" structure using water from natural mountain streams. The streams are intercepted by wide piping where they are placed to fall from a height into the vat to create a "whirlpool" effect. This technique is unique to Greece and a centuries old method, used mainly for Flokati Rugs. The water swells the backing and unravels while the pile blossoms.

Fringe - Warps extending from the ends of an area rug, which are treated in several ways to prevent the wefts and knots from unraveling. Today, artificial fringe is added to some tufted and machine made area rugs to make them look authentic.

Ground - The interlaced combination of warp and weft that comprises the fabric in pile rugs. The ground is referred to as the foundation.

Hand-knotted Rug - An area rug where fine threads of colored yarn are hand-knotted onto a warp / weft backing and then sheared to create a pile. There are a variety of actual knot styles; Nepalese, Agra, Jaipur, Persian, and Turkish to name a few.

Hand-loomed Knotted 10/40 Nepalese - This loomed knotting system is similar to Nepalese because rods are used to wrap the knots but unique because of limitation of colors used and the style of loom. This area rug is done on a traditional Indian pit loom.

Hand Spun - Wool or cotton spun into yarn using a hand spinning technique. This method is used when trying to create unique textured effects.

Hand-tufted Rugs / Hand-hooked Rugs - Both kinds of area rugs are produced in much the same way. A tufting gun that works much like an oversized sewing needle is used to push and pull threads of yarn through a scrim - a pre-woven grid foundation. With a hooked rug, the loops of yarn are left intact to form a characteristically knobby pile. In a tufted rug, the tops of loops are sheared to expose the ends of the threads for a softer and plusher pile.

Hand-woven Rugs - These area rugs are made on a cottage loom that is operated by hand. The warps are set on the loom frame and the weft is physically woven over the warp using shuttles.

Heat-Set - A process used in the machine made area rugs where the yarn is treated in "heat" chambers to "set" it. It adds texture and softness to the yarn and prevents the yarn from unravelling. Usually Heat-setting is done on finer polypropylene rugs.

Herbal Wash - This process of washing (as explained in "washing" below) is achieved by mixing natural herbs in the water. It softens the colors in the area rugs and gives them the antique look.

Indo Gabbeh 5/32 Knots - This style of hand knotting originated in the Tribal Gabbeh region of Persia. This technique has been adapted in India by using thick cotton warps and making larger knots. Designs made from this knotting system are usually tribal.

Jute - A natural fiber made from plants. This fiber is frequently used for warps and pile on flat-woven rugs, such as Jute Cotton and Kilims.

Kilim - A tapestry-like hand woven area rug.

Lines - A unique method of measuring density of area rugs that are hand made in China, and now adapted by a few other countries. By "lines" they mean how many knots or tufts to a linear foot. For example, in the Persian Dreams collection there are 160 tufts per linear foot, which makes any Persian Dream an exceptionally high quality hand tufted area rug. As a comparison good quality tufted rugs contain 80 lines.

Machine-made Rugs - These area rugs are woven on power looms. There are numerous types of power looms, each with specific capacities as to the type of designs and textures they can create. In recent years, continuing advances in technology and product innovation have greatly expanded the fashion and quality range of this category.

Merino - A breed of sheep that produces very fine wool. Originally raised in Spain, merino sheep whose wool is used in area rugs are also raised in Australia and England.

Nepalese Knot (7/18; 8/22; 9/25) - This is a kind of knotting that originated from the "Tibetan knot". Tibetan area rugs are woven by wrapping a continuous length of yarn over a rod laid across the warps stretched on the loom. When the rod has been wrapped for its entire length, a knife is slid along the rod, cutting the wrapped yarn into two rows of pile tufts. In the Indo-Nepal region, where they use this Tibetan technique of knotting (thereby called the "Nepalese knot), rugs are graded using numbers, like "9/25", "7/18" or "8/22." The top number of the "fraction" represents the knots in 9/10 of an inch of the rug's width. The bottom number represents the knots in 4 1/2 inches of the rug's length. 0.9" x 4.5" equals 4.05", almost four square inches, so an easy conversion would be to multiply the two numbers together and divide by 4 (sq. in.) to get the approximate weave in knots per sq. in. For example, with a "9/25" quality area rug, 9x25=225, and 225/4=56 knots per sq. in.

New Wool - Wool that is not recycled.

Pile - The nap of the area rug.

Ply - Two or more yarns spun together.

Power-Loomed - Same as machine-made area rugs.

Points - A term frequently used to describe how many actual yarns are used in a square meter of a machine made area rug or power loomed area rug.

Polypropylene - A man made fiber extracted from petroleum. This fiber is frequently used in machine-made or power loomed area rugs. There are many different techniques to advance the quality of this fiber.

WICKER AND RATTAN INFO

Rattan - a vine that grows to lengths of up to 500 feet in the mountains of the Southeast Asia and Philippines, where the rainfall averages almost 90 inches annually. It is the trunk of a climbing palm that is very long and thin, like a vine and rarely grows thicker than 2 inches in diameter. It is not hollow, but is filled with fibers running lengthwise, which make it very strong. It is pliable and easily bent and curved to form the many shapes of rattan furniture.Rattan is usually harvested when the vines are between 7-15 years old, where the vines are pruned away from the plant by hand, allowing it to continue growing. The vines are cut into 15-20 ft lengths, stripped of thorns, and washed, dried, and bundled, where they are transported to furniture factories

Wicker - is not a material, but rather an overall classification of furniture woven from one of a variety of materials. Many people think of wicker and rattan as the same thing, but the wicker family can be willow, rattan, cane, reed and any other pliable material. Wicker furnishings are made of weaving coarse fibers loosely together around a frame, a process dating back to early Egypt.

Cane - usually refers to the outer peel of rattan. After this skin is peeled off the vine, it is fashioned into strips which are woven into seats or decorative accents.

Bamboo - which is technically a giant cane grass, grows naturally in the warm regions of temperate climates. These bushy plants commonly grow over 100 feet, and there are approximately 500-1000 varieties of bamboo. Bamboo grows between 2 to 3 inches a day and can be harvested every four years. It is easily identified by its nodular growth and hollow stem. Similar to rattan, bamboo is much stronger, having a tensile strength greater than concrete and bricks, and almost as strong as steel. Often bamboo is used in furniture and although bamboo poles will split, these splits do not affect the structural integrity of the furniture.

Sea grass - Sea Grass is wrapped and twisted around wire into ropes and is used in making furniture.

Caring for Wicker - Wicker is easy to clean; the best method being to dust regularly with a soft cloth, a soft brush, or vacuuming the piece with the brush attachment of a vacuum cleaner. A soft bristled toot brush is ideal for those hard to get places. To maintain your wicker furniture, periodically wipe it down with a soft damp cloth followed by a light application of a good furniture polish for sheen and protection. If your wicker has become badly soiled, use water and a mild soap solution. Rinse and dry the frames. Bring wicker indoors or cover when not in use.