Blue Door Painters Discusses The Hows and Whys of Stripes in Interior Design
Stripes are probably the oldest and most well-known of all the world’s patterns. Emblazoned into our evolutionary heritage from billions of years of living amongst landscapes like the forest or the grassland where the environment is full of regularly repeating vertical lines, there is something about stripes that will never go out of style. The use of stripes in fashion has been a hot topic for as long as fashion has existed, and the use of stripes in interior design is an equally potent subject. There are several methods for creating stripes in an interior, and several reasons for doing so; in this blog Blue Door Painters has distilled volumes of design wisdom into two techniques and three tips for tapping into the power of stripes.
Techniques
1. Wallpaper. Wallpapering is the easiest method to get stripes into your interior. Since wallpaper is produced in a factory, it is readily available in a huge variety of colors, patterns, and materials. You can get wide stripes, thin stripes, bright or dull colors, vertical, horizontal, or diagonal orientations, or even more elaborate striped patterns that involve curves or irregular spacing. Many of the visual affects available with wallpaper would not be easily duplicated in paint without the services of a muralist. The downside to wallpaper is that it can be difficult to find a wall covering that has the perfect combination of texture, durability, and re-coat potential. Some wall coverings have a beautiful finish, but are not washable and cannot be recoated, while others are more durable, but less attractive. Talk to your estimator for a free color consultation, and Blue Door Painters would be happy to orient you to the varieties of wallpaper available on the market.
2. Shadow Striping. With enough patience, you can create a wide variety of striped patterns with paint. While patterns that are both complex and disciplined (like stripes) are tedious to create with a paintbrush or roller, the benefit of paint over wallpaper is that paint sometimes offers a superior balance of texture and resilience, and that when compared to the higher end wallpapers, paint is a lot cheaper to purchase and install. Stripes are usually created with paint by painting one coat, then taping the sections you want to stay that color and painting a second coat to fill in all the gaps. One way to use this method to produce an elegant and subtle effect (and one that effectively mimics high-end wallpaper) is called “shadow striping”. With shadow striping, you create stripes that are the exact same color, but alternate the level of gloss. That way, even though the color stays consistent, the light plays across the stripes in a subtly eye-catching way that makes the room look elegant.
Tips
1. Horizontal vs. Vertical. “Vertical stripes make me look fat,” is a commonly heard complaint in the world of fashion, reflecting the unique power of stripes to create visual contours. In interior design, however, sometimes looking “fat” is a good thing – if you want a small bedroom to look wider, for example. As a general rule of thumb, stripes enhance the dimension that they run in: vertical stripes make a space look taller, horizontal stripes make a space look wider. So if you have a room with low ceilings, vertical stripes might help you add a little height, while if you have a room that feels cramped, successful application of ‘fattening’ horizontal stripes may help open up the space.
2. Width of the Stripes. The second way to use stripes to create contour is by varying the width of the stripes. With vertical stripes, a wall appears longer if a significant number of stripes fit along its length. So up to a point, the narrower the stripes, the larger the space appears. However, after a certain point, if stripes are made too narrow, they merge into a uniform texture, visually speaking, and lose their ability to contour space. So the trick is to find the perfect balance. For larger rooms, like dining or living rooms, 6-8 inches is a good “sweet spot” width, whereas smaller rooms like bedrooms or bathroom work better with a narrower 3-5 inch width. When working with horizontal stripes, the same rule of thumb applies based on the height of the room’s ceiling.
3. Accents vs Main Coverage. It is certainly possible to cover an entire interior with tasteful stripes, but another way to tap into the power of stripes is to use them as an accent feature. Stripes can be used on alternate walls, with the walls in between left solid. They can be used in alcoves or on slanted or odd-shaped ceilings perched under the eaves of upstairs bedrooms. They can be used on doors or window trim. They can also be used in conjunction with chair rail molding, with the stripes placed either above or below the molding, and the solid color on the opposite side. There are a million creative options; keep your mind open and you can certainly find the perfect way to tap into the power of stripes.