Stripe styles

I know: stripes are not exactly a newsflash these days.  They're everywhere!  The big trend of the last year seems to be bold, wide, horizontal stripes, like those found in these bloggers' homes:

Emily Clark


Honey and Fitz



Modern Jane


Sherry Hart


Danielle Oakey


Modern 24/7 (actually this was for a client of hers)


Abby at A Delightful Design

(Lovely, ladies!)

If you want to take this on, these ladies have you covered--follow th elinks above to their tutorials if you are so inclined.

Stripes are one of the most classic patterns out there, and their popularity is due in no small part to the nice way they play with others: florals, geometrics, traditional, modern, you name it.

My girls' room has a nice big bathroom adjoining it, and I'm planning to use the leftover pink paint from the bedroom to stripe it up in there.  Not a big bold cabana stripe, though.  I've been thinking something more like a Farrow and Ball wallpaper.

FB block print stripe

FB tented stripe

Here's some context for how this type of stripe plays on the wall.

[Celerie Kemble in Lonny]

[Source unknown]

A bit more traditional without being stuffy.  I also like Farrow and Ball as a reference point because some of their stripes are actually produced with paint--the paper is dragged through vats of paint--and since I'll be painting the walls, I'll be going for a similar effect.

Before signing on for HOURS of measuring and taping, I figured I'd better determine just the right pattern.  So I pulled out some big sheets of white paper, some painters tape, and the can of paint and went to town.

The choices (from top to bottom in the photo above):

1) two-tone.  The wider stripes are the bedroom color.  The narrower stripes come from a can off the free shelf at Hirshfield's.

2) Wide variegated stripe

3) Narrow variegated stripe.  Same idea as the above, just everything closer together.

Any preferences?  I'd love your opinion!