Italian Vocabulary for the House

Imagine you’re visiting a friend in Florence, and she has just moved into a new apartment in the San Lorenzo neighborhood. She invites you over for "aperitivo" (an appetizer), and when you arrive, she gives you a tour of her new digs. Suddenly the vocabulary has gotten very specific and knowing how to say words like "hallway" or "cupboards" becomes essential.

Whether you’re in a situation like that or you want to be able to talk about your home, here’s vocabulary and phrases to help you have that that conversation. The English word is on the left with the Italian term on the right. Where indicated, click the link to hear, and learn, the correct pronunciation of the Italian word.

Key Vocabulary

• Apartment - l'appartamento
• Apartment building - il palazzo
• Attic - la soffitta
• Balcony - il balcone
• Bathroom - il bagno
• Bookshelf - lo scaffale
• Ceiling - il soffitto
• Cellar - la cantina
• Door - la porta
• Doorbell - il campanello
• Elevator - l'ascensore
• First floor - il primo piano
• Floor - il pavimento
• Furniture - gli arredamenti
• Garage - il box
• Garden - Il giardino / l'orto
• Hallway - l'ingresso
• House - la casa
• Nursery - la camera dei bambini
• Office - l’ufficio
• Lamp - la lampada
• Penthouse - l'attico
• Roof - il tetto
• Room - il vano
• Staircase - la scala
• Study - lo studio
• Studio apartment - il monolocale
• Terrace - il terrazzo
• Wall - la parete
• Window - la finestra

Bedroom: "La Camera da Letto"

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• Bed - il letto
• Closet - l’armadio
• Nightstand - il comodino
• Pillow - il cuscino
• ​Closet - l'armadio

Dining Room: "La Sala da Pranzo"

• Chair - la sedia
• Table - il tavolo​

Kitchen: "La Cucina"

• Dishwasher - la lavastoviglie
• Bowl - la ciotola
• Cupboard - Armadietti/ armadietti pensili
• Fork - la forchetta
• Glass - il bicchiere
• Knife - il coltello
• Plate - il piatto
• Refrigerator - il frigorifero
• Sink - il lavandino
• Spoon - il cucchiaio
• Kitchenette - il cucinino

Living Room: "Il Soggiorno/il Salotto"

• Armchair - la poltrona
• Couch - il divano
• Painting - il quadro
• Remote - il telecomando
• TV - la TV

Key Phrases

• Abitiamo al primo piano. - We live on the first floor.
• Il palazzo è molto vecchio. - The building is very old.
• Non c’è l’ascensore. - There’s no elevator.
• Abbiamo appena comprato una nuova casa! - We just bought a new house!
• Ci siamo appena spostati in una nuova casa/un nuovo appartamento. We just moved to a new house/apartment.
• La casa ha due stanze da letto e un bagno e mezzo. - The house has two bedrooms and one a half baths.
• Vieni, ti faccio vedere/ti mostro la casa. - Come on, let me give you a tour.
• L’appartamento ha tante finestre, quindi c’è molta luce naturale. - The apartment has a lot of windows, which means there is a lot of natural light.
• Questa stanza sarà il mio ufficio! - This room will be my office!
• La cucina è la mia stanza preferita. - The kitchen is my favorite room.
• Andiamo in cucina. - Let’s go to the kitchen.

Many English speakers make the mistake of using the preposition “a” when talking about going to or being in the kitchen. However, in Italian, you must use the preposition “in.”

• Passo molto tempo in giardino. - I spend a lot of time in the garden.
• Pitturiamo la settimana prossima. - We’re going to paint next week.

If you were painting the walls white, you would use the verb, “imbiancare.”