Yo! So I'm writing a fantasy, and I have this palace. It's big. And there are a lot of rooms, but I don't know the proper names for most of them. I don't have a specific time period in mind. I was mostly inspired by the late 18th, early 19th century, but I'm not stuck to a set year. However, I don't want to use a lot of modern-esque terms either, like living room, bed room, etc. They're boring. So I'm using drawing room for the queen's living room, dressing room for closet, bed chamber instead of bedroom (though I'm open to suggestions), and washroom instead of bathroom. I'll also include state rooms and state apartments. But that's mostly all I can come up with... And I still need names for all sorts of rooms! Like, what's the difference between a parlor and a lounge? Is there another name for dining hall? Also, what is a good name for a room where the Queen and her advisors would go to discuss strategy? (I have it as a War Room at the moment, but it makes me cringe every time I say it.) What about the basement and the maid's quarters? (Were they called "cellars" or what?) A kitchen can still be a kitchen, right? Are the any other rooms that I could potentially add that I'm not thinking of? (It's a big palace, but I'll end up using a lot of rooms.) I've done loads of research, but I think I need an ELI5 (explain like I'm five), because after a while, it all blends together. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Would these people not be her Privy Council? Would the name of the group extend to whichever room they used?
Well, the maid's quarters are in the basement, so if I call it a cellar, it'll seem small when it's actually enormous. There's a temple elsewhere, so that won't be included. I'll definitely include pantry (good word!), and I guess War Hall or even Warring (?) Hall might work. What's a privy council? Her group of advisors (or I guess councilors is the better word) is called the Collective. They all live in the palace with her and help her make important decisions. There's a room under the stairs full of maps and books with a huge 20 person table where they go to discuss battle strategy or city issues. It's basically their meeting room. Or conference room.
In the past this group was less honorary and more functional, their roles having been taken over by "big governement".
I would highly suggest just picking palaces you mean to emulate, and look up the floor plans & layout for a general idea
You can always attach fancy descriptions to common names I'll meet you in the yellow parlor. The downstairs library should make for an excellent place for us to talk. It's always so cozy in there. We shall be dining in the Winchester room. 1900 prompt.
Yeah, in my experience, rooms are named by their features: the great room, the solarium, the purple room...
I don't think there is one. I've only ever encountered them as synonyms, and neither really feel like palacey words. A lounge feels like something you'd find in a house where Dr. Black got killed with a candlestick. ^^ that. A palace can have lots of rooms that are basically all used for the same thing, so you could differentiate them with features - the Green Room, the Armoury, the Hall Of A Thousand Mirrors. If it's where government happens as well, you can add offices, meeting rooms, maybe a court.
Not certain, but I think the difference is in how the rooms are used. Parlors are for receiving guests (callers), lounges are where guests retire for after-dinner drinks. The Queen could meet with her privy council in the Grand Gallery. She can use the coats of arms and portraits on the wall to intimidate the others while inspiring her.
Well since mansion can refer to an upscale apartment block in some countries. Here is a link with some basic palace rooms, and an option to hire a castle. http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/life_01_rooms.htm And here is one on manors. http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/manorhouses.htm Hope this helps a smidgen with what you are working on and good luck.
I think the word 'chamber' is often substituted for 'room,' in older vernacular. And there's always the 'scullery.' (I'd have to look that up, but I think it's where the dirty work of the kitchen took place ...the washing-up, etc.
The room that everyone heard screaming come from, but no one says anything, because sometimes people go missing around here and its best not to meddle in the masters affairs.
The parlor would generally be close to the front entrance. Some other rooms might be the butler's pantry near the kitchen, maids quarters, generally on the top level having their own stairwell, counsel chambers instead of war room, and great hall instead of dining room. Oh, and I almost forgot - the dungeon room instead of the basement.
There's a larder, which is the same thing as a pantry but sounds to me somewhat bigger/old-fashioneder (it's a word). I looked at some floor plans for the White House, and there's the Lincoln Bedroom, the East Sitting Room, the West Sitting Room, and the Queen's Bedroom (really? Not too sure of my source). But the suggestion upthread of having rooms named by their features is good. The Teal Room, Iain Banks had a Hall of Murals, the Map Room. Ooh, another thing you could do is emulate a bit of Istanbul. The New Mosque (Yeni Camii) was completed in the 1660s, so around the time the American colonists were starting to push west into the Appalachian mountains.
the 1559 survey of our manor house (when i say our I mean my team, I manage it, I don't own it) has on its plans a Great hall , a lesser hall, the great chamber , many lesser chambers. (chambers are bedrooms) Servants quarters (bear in mind that the higher up the house they are the less important the servant - fire) , a buttery (note that a buttery is a storage for butts of ale , wine etc, it is not for making butter -butter is made in the dairy), great kitchen and petit kitchen (the great kitchen has the fire where meat is cooked, the petit kitchen is use for warming food and coking smaller dishes) Outside you have 'courts' - that is courtyards so the great court is outside the great hall , the kitchen court is between the brew house and the kitchen, and the base court is where the stables are. If you'd like a copy i can probably arrange it - though i'm off work on long term sick at present, but i can give you contacts for a colleague.
