In my first apartment, I painted a 14 foot wall of my bedroom in stripes. Owing to my extreme fastidiousness, it took a laser level and the better part of a day, but I was extremely satisfied with the results. If you have the time - and the patience - painting (or wallpapering) your place with bold black and white stripes could be just the thing to add a little bit of drama.
Since black and white stripes are naturally attention-grabbing, they work best in a setting where there's not a lot of other things to compete, like a powder room, guest bedroom, or entry hall. It will help to keep the rest of the color scheme fairly simple to avoid fatigue.
What do you think - are black and white stripes bold and dramatic? Or just a little over the top?
Images:
1. A bold entry hall from Country Living.
2. Stripes enliven a previously blah bedroom from Design*Sponge.
3. This bathroom at the Women's Collection store is just another reason to love J.Crew. From Lonny.
4. Resin striped coffee tables by Madegoods.
5. Shy about painting a whole wall? Try painting just the door.
6. I love the look of these stripes in varying widths.
7. Black and white is just as dramatic on the table as on the wall. Photo (and a recipe!) from BS in the Kitchen. You can buy your own striped pasta from Amazon.
8. A striped living room from Lonny.
9. The stripes in this sunny bedroom from Country Living are made with chalkboard paint.
10. Fashionable stripes on stripes from the Sartorialist.
Images: as linked above.
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The vertical stripes make me think "Cartoon Jail"!
I crazy-love stripes (and J. Crew for that matter), but that third photo bugs me. The stripes mask what looks to be some fantastic architectural detail. Way too busy. The second and sixth photos are far more enticing.
I really like the first picture of the hallway! The vertically striped bathroom is just awful.
Previously to moving into our home, I might have felt the "cartoon jail" comment more pesonally, but our home came with black and white vertical striped wall paper in the dining room and the hallway had black and white diamond pattern. The dining room was also red, being red, black and white said circus tent to me, but after we painted it white, the strong black and white patterns became more comfortable with me. I like the look of the horizontal stripes in the first image especially.
I like the two country living spaces and the lonny space. I think the key is to accessorize/style so that the highlight of the room is not the stripes - it just makes a great backdrop. The two country living spaces use a feature with a bright, fun color as an attention grabber (turquoise chandelier and green sofa).
Some fun striped wallpaper: http://www.17thandriggs.com/Vertigo-Wallpaper.aspx
I once saw a photo (either on here or houzz I think) of a walk in closet/dressing room done in black and white stripes. I've been trying to relocate that pic as I want to do something similar...but I can't find it anywhere. I was hoping it would be in this round up.