The interior design guide.

A definitive knowledge base for interior designers.

Eleven chapters take a home from first principles to the moment you show it to the client. Start with Foundations and read in order, or search for a topic, a term or a rule of thumb.

Chapters.

Eleven steps, from principles to presentation.

Keep reading.

Where to go next.

Sections.

Keep reading.

Where to go next.

Program.

What it means in interior design.

A program, or space schedule, turns the brief into spatial requirements: each activity, its users, its target area and the spaces it must sit near.

In practice

Total the program before drawing. If the areas add up to more than the floor, the brief has to change, not the plan.

Where the guide uses it

Representation

Related terms.

Brief

A brief is the client’s statement of what the project must achieve: who it is for, what it must include, the budget, the timescale and any fixed constraints.

Concept

A concept is the central idea a design is built on: a layout strategy, a mood and a material direction that answer the brief together.

Design development

Design development is the stage that turns an approved concept into a resolved design: fixed layouts, chosen finishes, sized joinery and coordinated services.

Tender

A tender is the process of asking contractors to price the same set of documents, so their prices can be compared like for like.

Specification

A specification is the written description of what is to be supplied and how it is to be installed: products, materials, finishes, standards and workmanship.

Snagging

Snagging is the inspection near the end of a project that lists defects and unfinished work, called snags, for the contractor to put right before handover.

Back to the Lexicon

The interior design guide. A definitive knowledge base for interior designers.

The Lexicon.

Use the guide in your AI assistant.

The interior design guide.

Chapters.

Keep reading.

Sections.

Keep reading.

Program.

In practice

Where the guide uses it

Related terms.

Brief

Concept

Design development

Tender

Specification

Snagging