WALLS vocabulary

• anaglypta A lightweight embossed material made of cotton pulp, to be painted or faux-finished after installation.

• border A narrow strip of small repeating pattern, whether stencil or paper, used to highlight the architecture of a room (as around doors or windows).

• chair rail A narrow moulding above the dado or wainscot, originally used to protect the wall against chair backs, and useful to create a pattern break.

• crown/cornice The moulding, usually plaster or wood, at the top of the wall, abutting the ceiling.

• dado Treatment for the bottom of the wall, between the baseboard and chair rail, where a wainscot would be.

•fill(ing) Color or pattern used in the main portion of a wall, between the dado below and frieze above.

• frieze A horizontal band along the upper part of a wall, or the design intended for that space.

• lincrusta-walton A heavy, rigid, embossed wallcovering made of linseed oil, with deep relief, to be given a finish after installation.

• panelize A decorative treatment in which mouldings are used to create framed panels on the wall. The panels may be painted in a different color, or wallpapered.

• picture rail A narrow moulding near or below the cornice from which framed pictures could be suspended on wires and hooks.

The area above might be treated as part of the wall or part of the ceiling.

• polychrome To decorate in many or various colors, from the Greek words for multiple and color.

• stencil Repeating ornament applied in paint through a design cut out of a template, usually paperboard or Mylar.

• wainscot Traditionally, it is wood cladding on the lower section of wall, corresponding to classical proportions, and may be flat boards, raised-panel, beadboard, etc.