Five Colorful Striped Décor Ideas

Five striped décor ideas create colorful originality and eccentric chic in a Long Island country house.

Striped decor can be a no-brainer or a tough sell. That’s because stripes are always bold as we’ve shown in various posts on striped décor over the years. Usually, the focus is walls — from tent-stripe garden rooms by Miles Redd to a classic green striped bedroom by Celeri Kemble. Then there are vibrant striped floor coverings like the staircase runner that brightened an English vestibule (see links below).

The Long Island country house of a well-known New York tastemaker, Amy Fine Collins raises the bar on the fierce use of color and striped décor. Working with designer Robert Hoven, the home has a unique look and approach to hue and pattern. Let me pinpoint the ideas I’m talking about.

1 Striped Draperies [top]. My first thought (not so nice) about this living room was that the draperies had been repurposed from a gender-neutral nursery. Then I began to see the point. Opposing shades of blue and orange, unified by cream, have a happy kid-like aura tamed by the saturated blue of the walls and upholstery. There’s nothing tricky here — the soft pleated valance is traditional and tucking it up under the crown molding eliminates the heinous “wall gap” between the top of the window and the ceiling. As a plus, the vertical stripes help raise the visual height of the ceiling. For me, striped draperies are always a risk but when they succeed, they can rock the room. Note the way the carpet coordinates with the cream and aqua hues in the draperies — a subtle touch but one designed to keep the room looking light despite dark walls and chairs.

2 Striped Bedspread, Pillow Shams – Screaming “beach towel” stripes, pieced like a quilt on the spread, and worked into pinwheels for pillow shams, show a wonderful sense of humor about the master bedroom. Pale lavender walls, in contrast, are serious and stenciled. And lavender is genius with these towel colors precisely because it’s so unexpected. Swirly striped pattern on the swing-arm lamp shades add another layer of striping and amp up the exuberance. Wow, right?

3 & 4 Striped Walls with Striped Carpet – The wall treatment, created by Robert Hoven, shows how wonderfully effective striped walls can be even in a small guest room. The dark green hue is picked up by the color of the 1920s wicker chairs. Then, a rainbow-stripe Gene Meyer rug adds warm colors to the citrus, pine and aqua theme. Usually a designer’s instinct is to go for striped walls or carpets — not both. But nothing succeeds here like this particular excess.

5 Striped Sofa Upholstery – Fuchsia, green and white Manuel Canovas fabric modernizes the green vintage wicker settee in the front hall. A pale aqua  stenciled wall provides the subtle backdrop both for the sofa and for portraits of the late beauty magnate Helena Rubenstein, who Fine Collins admires greatly. Amy Fine Collins defines color as a “primary drive” and combining that with striped décor pushes all that color into high gear, in a memorable and inspirational way.

(Source: Elle Décor)

You also might like Rainbow Staircase Runner, Single Pattern Rooms, and Celery Striped Classic Bedroom