I am interested in contributing to the fabulous Plinth & Chintz website! I recently graduated from the London Metropolitan University with a MA Design Research for Disability and have a BFA from SUNY Buffalo State in Interior Design. My educational as well as personal experiences have only enabled my passion for design to mushroom. - Corinn Harms
This section serves to expand your regular vocabulary. What separates the men from the boys (or the women from the girls, if you want to equalize things) is v o c a b u l a r y. We cannot stress this point enough. People who have a larger vocabulary have been shown to make more money and get promoted more often.
As little as this noun is, it packs a big punch. Although it also means poison, woe, destruction or death, its most common usage is as a curse or source of ruin and injury.
Example: The bane of any successful design project team is a member with an over inflated ego.
Whether used as a noun or a verb, this word refers to a fast, forceful projection of many tangible things (like bullets) or outpouring of intangible things (like words) at once.
Example: Being brand new to the job and not up to speed on all off the hundreds of outstanding project details, Jessica grew more and more frustrated from and frightened by the barrage of questions thrown at her by the angry homeowners’ representative.
We could actually also sneak this word into the DESIGN SPEAK section because of its original Medieval use describing the projecting architectural portion of a battle fortification. In modern times, however, this word tends to be used to describe a less tangible kind of fortification and more that of a resilient stance or stronghold.
Example: Due to the lax attitude towards accuracy and detail held by both her boss and her colleagues, Jesse was starting to feel that she was the last bastion of quality control within her firm when compiling specifications and construction documents.
As you might have guessed, this is a French phrase. Beau means good, and monde means world or society, so put them together and what have you got? The world of fashionable society.
Example: Much to the dismay of her employees, after she married the CEO of a rising tech company, Victoria showed more interest in being a part of the San Francisco beau monde than actually sustaining her successful design practice.
People who use this word sound so cultivated. Plus, it’s fun to say because you get to pucker up your lips like you’re just about to give someone a kiss. But what does it mean, you ask. To be advantageous, valuable, helpful, or appropriate.
Example: Though Carla was not looking forward to attending the 4-hour Revit seminar, she knew that it would behoove her to take the personal time off of work, especially since she was thinking of changing firms and knowledge BIM was required.
The easiest way to remember this word is to focus on the emphasized syllable: lie (as in falsehood, misrepresentation, fabrication, etc.). Why? This succinct little transitive verb means to present a false impression of, to contradict, to disguise, or to show something to be wrong.
Example: A stranger off the street would have supposed the client meeting to be going extremely well, but Jim knew better. His boss’s smiles and witty comments belied her simmering anger regarding the money their firm had lost on the project.
A benchmark is an actual spot on a stable item used to indicate elevation, but the word is more commonly used outside of the world of topography and surveying – i.e., a point of reference from which measurements may be made. The term – also seen as bench mark – also means something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged, as well as a uniform assessment that serves as a foundation for evaluation or comparison.
Example: After the firm won top honors for its design of an innovative, technology-rich medical clinic, the principal knew that this project would be the benchmark against which all of their future healthcare projects would be measured.
To give someone or a group of people an old fashioned scolding. In other words, to condemn in a very noticeable and angry manner – sometimes for an unusually long time. It’s never fun to be berated.
Example: Jonathan’s weekly project meetings were never something to look forward to since the grouchy developer tended to pick one person on the project team to berate every week – justifiably or not.
This is the kind of word you expect to see in Old English texts or your collection of Shakespearian classics, but the word is built for the modern world too. Though it can be used in several ways – to formally address someone, to ask for or hire in advance, to request something, or to foretell or hint at beforehand – its this last, most simple, definition that’s most used today: to indicate or show. Our example sentence should quell any confusion.
Example: The multinational company’s Board of Directors was duly impressed during their final interview of the week. Stated the CEO: “Your extensive portfolio and calm confidence bespeak years of experience in the practice interior design and facility planning. We want to hire you to design our new corporate headquarters.”
The literal French translation: black beast. Sounds scary. The way the English-speaking world uses the term is a little less creepy: a person or thing (not necessarily tangible) that you want to avoid because it stirs up dread, disgust and/or hatred. Uh… we hope we’re not anyone’s bête noire.
Example: Prima donna designers have long been the bête noire of contractors, but they’ve become the darlings of drama-hungry media and insecure, status-conscious clients.
Such a funny, happy little word to represent a large group or collective set of something.
Example: A bevy of interior design students from the city’s local program eagerly listed to Jackson while he toured them around the firm’s offices and told them about the firm’s latest projects.
We love this word. On the one hand, it means lighthearted, merry, and carefree in disposition or character – a positive, to be sure. On the other hand, it takes on a more negative bent as it can also mean lacking in consideration, heedless, and a little too casual when it comes to thinking things through. Our example sentence uses the latter definition.
Example: In a panic due to her client’s anger over the poor wearing capability of the carpet she specified for his bank lobby, Judith met the manufacturer’s representative at the site to inspect. To her dismay, he reacted with blithe unconcern, even after seeing the product’s deteriorated condition first-hand.
This fun, cheerful word is French (“But, of course!” said in an over-the-top accent), and it literally means “good liver.” Not in the organ sense, but in the sense of one who lives well. More distinctively, it means one who is culturally refined and has perfect social taste, especially when it comes to cuisine and wine.
Example: Nigel absolutely loved his new clients. Not only did they have multiple homes in multiple countries in need of extensive remodeling, but they were quite the bon vivants and loved to treat him to sumptuous dinners at the best restaurants London had to offer.
If you were born prior to 1973, then the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this word is probably Hoss and Little Joe. This most popular of TV westerns was certainly a bonanza for NBC as it ran for 14 years. So what’s a bonanza? A large amount of something positive, or something very valuable, worthwhile or profitable. Who doesn’t want one of those?
Example: Jennifer’s long-time friendship with her junior high soccer teammate miraculously ended up being a bonanza for her interior design career when Vicky hired Jennifer to be the designer of record for her nationwide chain of popular yogurt shops.
A tiny, to-the-point word that means a blessing, opportune benefit, or favor.
Example: Rachelle’s receiving the grant funding for her research in the area of healthcare design was a significant boon not only to her, but to the university overall and especially its interior design department.
To bridge the gap between the student / educational community and the professional / manufacturer community of the interior design world, and not to die of boredom while we do it.
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IFI (International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers) presents WING: World Interiors for the Next Generation and invites you to enter THINK/WORK: An IFI Design Accelerator Competition sponsored by Teknion. This competition seeks projects that re-envision, re-invent and re-design future workspaces. IFI and WING calls upon Interior Architects/Designers to submit solutions that bring value, relevance, responsibility, culture, business, knowledge and identity as stated by the IFI Interiors Declaration. The deadline to enter is June 28, 2013. GO HERE to find out more.
Enough Said T-Shirts
Created by a couple of Milwaukee interior designers with a quirky sense of humor, a healthy dose of sarcasm and a heaping serving of caring. Check out Enough Said to find fun t-shirts with a message.
