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Interior Design vocabulary · Materials & Finishes

Swatch

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/swɒtʃ/nounCore term

In interior design, swatch means: A small sample of fabric, paint colour, wallpaper or another material, used to check how it looks and feels before ordering.

In Turkish: numune, kartela, kumaş numunesi

How it is used

Designers request or order swatches from suppliers and show them to clients in both daylight and artificial light. A swatch book or sample book holds many swatches from one range. For paint, people also say colour card or paint chip.

Example sentences

  1. I've ordered swatches of the three velvets so you can compare them at home.

  2. Hold the paint swatch against the wall in the morning and again at night.

Common collocations

  • fabric swatch
  • paint swatch
  • order swatches
  • swatch book
  • sample boardA board showing real samples of the materials and finishes chosen for a room, such as flooring, tiles, fabrics, paint and metal finishes, arranged together.
  • upholsteryThe padding, springs and fabric or leather covering on sofas, chairs and headboards; also the craft of making and covering such furniture.
  • colour paletteThe limited set of specific colours selected for a project, often shown as samples or paint codes, from which every surface and item is chosen.
  • finishThe final surface of a material, or the material used on a visible surface, such as paint, tiles, wood stain or polished stone; also how that surface looks, for example matt or glossy.

More terms: Materials & Finishes

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