Furniture & Interior Design Glossary Terms - D

Damask: A heavy reversible fabric featuring a pattern that's distinguished from the background by contrasting luster.

Davenport: Term originates from a the last name of a Boston upholster who made overstuffed couches. His couches were so popular people called them Davenports. This word has been replaced with sofa.

Daventry: A small chest of drawers with a sloped top for writing.

Deboss: To depress a design in leather, paper, or composition board.Decoupage: A method of decorating walls and objects with paper cutouts.Denim: Heavy cotton twill woven from coarse yarns.Density: Normally used as a measure of weight per cubic volume, which is usually expressed in pounds per cubic foot. An important quality of foam used in upholstered furniture. Greater density in foam is generally equated with better quality and durability. Density can also be used to refer to the number of coils per given area in a mattress.

Denim: This basic cotton cloth - first brought to America by Columbus almost 500 years ago as the sails on the Santa Maria - is rugged, tough, and serviceable. It is easily recognized by its traditional indigo-blue color warp and gray or mottled white filling, and its left hand twill on the face. Today, we most commonly associate denim as the material used for making blue jeans.

Dentils (or Dentil Molding): Rectangular tooth-like blocks spaced at equal intervals along a cornice molding.

Design: The art of conceptualizing the appearance of an object or space. The term also refers to the style, appearance, or characteristic of an item such as a modern lamp or rustic bench.

DeStijl: A 20th Century style originating in the Netherlands. As with other Dutch furniture of the period, DeStijl furniture is characteristically simple and clean-lined.

Diamond Tufting: An arrangement of tufted buttons which yields a diamond shaped pattern on the back of an upholstered piece of furniture.

Diaper-Work: A surface decoration that consists of a series of reticulations each of which contains an ornamental unit, such as a flower or leaf.

Directoire: The Directoire period of furniture (late 1700's to early 1800's) was a result of French reign under five directors. Styling was controlled by a Jury of Arts and Manufactures. All emblems of royalty and aristocracy in furniture design were abolished. Classic decorations including griffins and caryatids are familiar in Directoire furniture. This period is influenced hugely by Greek, Egyptian, and Roman styling. Simple elegance characterizes this period.

Disc Foot: A flat, disc-shaped foot used on tables and chairs. Very common on chrome dining furnishings from the 1950's and 1960's.

Distemper: Paints made by mixing pigment with water and bound with casein, glue or egg. Widely used before the arrival of emulsion.

Distressed (or Distressing): A furniture trait where pieces are purposely dented or otherwise marked to render an antique or rustic appearance.

Dormer: A window set vertically in a structure projecting through a sloping roof.

Dover Chest: An early American hope chest that was normally made of maple or oak.

Dovetail: Joint construction made by cutting pins in the shape of dovetails, which fit between dovetails upon another piece. Commonly found in drawer construction.

Dowel: A headless wooden pin used in furniture construction.

Down: Soft breast feathers from ducks or geese.

Dowry Chest: A chest that was made to hold the personal possessions of a prospective bride. Notable examples in American furniture history include the Hadley chest, the Connecticut chest and the paint Pennsylvania-German chest.

Dragging: A paint effect that produces fine stripes on a surface, usually done by dragging a dry brush or through a glaze.

Draught Chair: The early English equivalent of a wingback chair.

Drawer Guides (or Glides): Term referring to the track or runners allowing a drawer to move freely and evenly in a piece of furniture such as a dresser. There are many types of guides including wooden center guides, metal glides with rollers, and metal ball bearing guides.

Drop Front: The hinged front of an upright desk that drops down to provide a surface for writing.

Drop Handle: A pear-shaped handle made popular in the late 17th Century.

Drop-In Seat: An upholstered seat frame that sits in the main framework of a chair.

Drop-In Spring Unit: A coil spring assembly (much like a mattress coil unit) used in upholstery to simulate an eight-way-hand-tied feel and support.

Drop Seat: A concave seat where the middle and front are lower than the side.

Drum Dyeing: Maximum dye penetration of leather by immersing it in a dye solution in a tumbling drum.

Drum Table: A circular top table on a tripod base with a deep skirt that may contain drawers.

Dry Brushing: A paint technique in which a brush is worked over a glaze to create a cloudy effect.

Duck: A closely woven heavy durable material.

Duck Foot: A webbed foot attached to a table leg which curves outward.

Dumb Waiter: A type of dining room stand with a central shaft and circular trays, which often revolves to enable those who are dining to help themselves to additional plates. Term also applies to a pulley type elevator that brought food up from a basement kitchen to the first floor dining room.

Duncan Phyfe: A furniture style popular in the late 1700's to early 1800's. Duncan Phyfe pieces are characterized by feet that gracefully curve outward on both tables and sofas. Duncan Phyfe seating pieces often have lyre-shaped backs, rolled top rails and arms.

Dupioni: A lustrous silk woven from two different colors of threads so that it shimmers or changes color in the light.

Dust Cover (or Cambrick): A non-woven cloth that covers the bottom of an upholstered piece of furniture such as a sofa or box spring. Also referred to as cambrick.

Dustboard (Dust Panel): A panel placed between drawers in a chest or dresser to eliminate dust.

Dutch Dresser: A cabinet with open shelves on the upper portion, and drawers or cupboard below.

Dutch Foot: A simple pad used as the foot on a cabriole leg. Sometimes confused with a duck foot.

Dutch Renaissance: This furniture style was a huge influence on late English design. It is characterized by its square heavy style and its straight dominate lines. Chairs were made with turned legs, straight stretchers and low backs that were also straight in design. The main decoration was carving with leaves and scrolling. Chair seats often had leather attached with brass nails, also referred to as nailhead. Oak was the favored wood of choice. Most popular during the 1500's through the 1600's.

Dutch Style: Early Flemish Baroque furniture, dating from the 17th Century, was but a slight adaptation of the late Renaissance style. Typical are oak cupboards with four doors and chairs with seats and backs of velvet or leather held in place by nails. Most pieces are massive, solid unpretentious pieces made of local woods with turnings.

Dye Lot: Because fabrics are dyed in varying quantities of yardage, consistency of color will vary. Therefore there will be differences in color from bolt to bolt.

Dying: The process of applying color to fiber stock, yarn or fabric; there may or may not be thorough penetration of the colorant into the fibers or yarns.