Carleton Varney, Part VII - Stripes, The Common Denominator

I love stripes - from a classic French sailor's shirt to fun stripey tumblers for summer drinks. So when I opened Carleton Varney this evening and the page fell to Stripes, The Decorating Common Denominator, I knew this would be a fun topic. (especially with this cute guy headlining!)"Imagine for a moment a dining room with a white dado, and above the dado, papered walls with a two inch stripe. Hang colourful chintz curtains at the windoes - delphinium blue flowers entwined with peony pink ribbons and emerald green leaves." Well, actually this may be a bit much, but there are tons of ways to use stripes.
Blue and white mattress ticking paired with a toile is a classic look for the bedroom or bath. I bought an eiderdown comforter in the UK and found a duvet cover almost exactly like the one above. You can often find vintage French mattress ticking in some of the markets in the UK and France. It's often old linen, which lasts forever. Snap it up if you see it.
These crisp black and white striped pillows from Williams Sonoma Home would enlived any setting. Crisp blue and white shirts with white collars and cuffs are wardrobe staples. In certain Southern cities, blue and white seersucker suits have never gone out of style. Brightly coloured striped rugby shirts crossed the ocean from the UK decades ago, and haven't looked back. Chanel even did a (very) toned down rugby striped top in sequins at the Paris Spring Shows.

It's hard to imagine a decor where stripes wouldn't work.