Glossary - Design - Ralph Lauren Home

Paint Remover A compound that softens old varnish and permits scraping off the loosened material.	Painters Tape A low-tack adhesive (also referred to as "blue masking tape") used for masking surfaces. Removes safely from delicate surfaces (like wallpaper and drywall) and leaves no residue.
Parquetry Furniture inlaid with a geometrical cube design in the manner of a parquet floor.	Paterna A dish like ornament often worked in bas-relief on a frieze.
Patina A surface texture produced by age, wear or rubbing.	Pecan A type of hickory native to the south central U.S. It has a strong grain pattern resembling walnut.
Pedestal A table on a round center support.	Pediment The space or structure above a cornice.
Peelable A wallpaper in which the top layer strips away without streaming or scraping, leaving a thin residue of paper or paste	Peeling Detachment of a dried paint film in relatively large pieces, usually caused by moisture or grease under the painted surface.
Pembroke A long square-sided table with oval or square ends, the leaves at the side of which drop almost to the floor. Named for Lady Pembroke.	Petit Needlework usually on cotton, silk or linen, using a very fine stitch.
Philadelphia Distinct school of mid-18th century	Pie A table so named because the edge is finished off in a series of serpentines or curves, as cooks crimp the edges of a pie.
Piece. for A piece of fabric is the packaging quantity in which the fabric is put-up by the weaver or printer.	Pied French for “deer’s foot”; slight curvature applied to a leg, ending in a cloven foot.
Pigments Paint ingredients mainly used for color and hiding.	Pilaster Flat column superimposed on any plain surface to serve as a support for a cornice or a pediment.
Pine Soft wood, white or pale yellow. No figure. Often used as solid wood.	Plinth Square or octagonal base of a chest or other column, solid to the floor.
Plisse ISSE –Cotton fabric, chemically treated to give a crinkled surface.	Plumb Line A chalk line reel used to paint stripes on walls or floors accurately.
Polyurethane Wide range of coatings, ranging from hard glossy enamels to soft flexible coatings. It has good to very good adhesion, hardness, flexibility and resistance.	Practical Coverage The flat area that a gallon of paint will naturally tend to cover. Also known as the spread rate.
Pre A wallcovering from which the selvage edges have been trimmed before packaging so it is ready for installation. All Ralph Lauren wallpapers are pre-trimmed.	Prep A liquid wall preparation used to prepare a wall to accept wallpaper paste.
Prima (Mexico and Nicaragua) Sometimes called white mahogany; whitish to straw yellow, with glossy effect, lined with pale brown.	Primary Colors Colors that cannot be produced by mixing any two other colors. They are red, yellow and blue.
Primer The first coat or under coat that helps bind the top coat to the substrate (surface to be painted).	Prince Decorative motive of three ostrich feathers, badge of the heir apparent of England; favored by Hepplewhite as the filler-design of chair backs.
Print General term for fabric (usually cotton) that has been decorated by a motif, design or pattern applied by means of dyes after is has been constructed. The printing is usually done by engraved rollers or silk screens.	Putty Dough-like mixture of pigment and oil used to set glass in window frames and to fill nail holes and cracks.