FF&E glossary

A short glossary for interior product work. Practical meanings, not a textbook.

Use it when a teammate or client means something different from you. Then open the guide that matches the job.

FF&E

Furniture, fixtures, and equipment. In studio practice, it often means the specified products that furnish a space. Related guide: Replace Excel for FF&E schedules.

Product library

A reusable set of product records with enough identity to find and reuse them across projects or for future ones. Prefer a source URL with specs and price at save over unnamed screenshots. Aalto is a visual workspace. Add a product once. Reuse it easily. Related: Interior design product library, Save products from supplier websites.

Selection / shortlist

The active set under review for a room or project. Status matters. Considering. Shortlisted. Approved. Dropped. Related: Room-by-room FF&E selection checklist.

Product board

A visual review surface for products in context. It works best when each card is a real product record. Related: Share interior product boards.

Room schedule / FF&E schedule

A structured list often handed to someone outside the design review loop. It is often exported to CSV, XLSX, or PDF. Related: Export FF&E schedule.

Source URL

The supplier or maker page the product came from. Use it to re-check finish and availability. For a current price in Aalto, rescrape on demand when you need it.

Price at save

The price stored when the product was captured. Aalto uses this model. You can rescrape prices on demand when you need current ones. Prices are not continuously live and do not auto-refresh in the background.

Specs at save

Specification details captured with the product at save time. They are also point-in-time. Revisit the source if specs change.

Spreadsheet workflow

Excel or Google Sheets used as a product scrapbook, room list, review tool, and handoff document at once. Fine for formulas. Fragile for selection. Related: Replace spreadsheets for interior product selection, Excel vs Aalto for interior design.

Studio OS / practice software

Broader tools that may include schedules, procurement, CRM, or project management. Examples people cite include Programa or Houzz Pro. Aalto is intentionally lighter. It focuses on product sourcing and organisation. It does not claim full OS coverage.

Holding area

A temporary home for products not yet assigned to a room. Useful during early research. Related: Organise products by room and project.

Try one term

Pick one sticky term from a live project. Align the team on its meaning. Then try the matching job on one room or one board.