How to Use Stripes To Update Your Interiors

Stripes are one of the most enduring prints in interiors, which probably accounts for the huge volume of stripe searches on the Fabrics Galore website, whether for use as curtains, blinds, cushions or upholstery.  

Stripes are a classic interior design staple with good reason: they suit both traditional and modern interiors. They can make rooms feel taller, wider, calmer or more playful depending on the direction and size of the stripe in question.  Discover all the ways home sewists choose striped fabrics as a fashionable way to add structure, colour and style to their homes. 

Stripes are among the oldest patterns in textile history, appearing in early woven fabrics across many cultures before evolving from purely practical designs into decorative statements during the 18th century. By the 19th century, they had become a staple of Regency and Victorian interiors, valued for the sense of order and structure they brought to upholstery, wallpaper and soft furnishings.

In medieval Europe, stripes carried negative associations with marginalised groups, which limited their use in the home. That perception shifted in the 20th century when Coco Chanel reimagined the Breton stripe worn by French sailors, transforming it into a symbol of effortless Riviera style.

Once seen mainly in mattress ticking and other utilitarian textiles, stripes gained new prestige during the Art Deco era, when bold lines and graphic patterns helped establish them as a sophisticated choice for stylish, high-end interiors.

Stripes can instantly change how a room feels:

• Vertical stripes make ceilings look higher.
• Horizontal stripes make rooms feel wider.
• Narrow stripes add subtle interest.
• Wide stripes add a bold design statement.

Stripes suit all decorating styles:

• Country
• Coastal
• Modern
• Traditional
• Maximalist

Whichever way you use stripes, it helps to consider them a neutral which are easily combined with other patterns, such as florals, adding polish, structure and cohesion to your homes. 

Simply a quick look at our website will demonstrate that not all stripes are the same. They are surprisingly versatile if you consider all the options:

 

Ticking Stripe

 

Ticking Stripe Fabrics at Fabrics Galore

 

• Narrow, evenly spaced often in groups of three
• Traditional and practical
• Ideal for blinds and cushions or even upholstery

Heritage Stripe

 

Indian Cotton "Lots of Stripes" Fabrics

 

• Inspired by traditional textiles
• Woven rather than printed

Modern Stripe

• Multicoloured and playful
• Irregular such as wavy or painterly

Awning Stripe

Cotton Canvas White Striped Fabric

• Bold and wide
• Often used in garden rooms or outdoors
• Great for statement curtains and cushions

Pinstripe

• Fine and subtle stripes
• Great for contemporary interiors

 

The type of stripe you choose will require careful pattern matching and seam placement.

There are so many projects for home sewists using striped fabric, some easy and some requiring more advanced sewing skills: cushions are an easy and low commitment way to introduce stripes. Smaller upholstery projects like dining chair seat pads, window and bench seat pads and headboards, also offer a way to add stripes as an accent rather than a main feature. Curtains and blinds are more time-consuming projects which showcase stripes as the main event in a room. 

If you love a stripe, you can even try covering a room entirely in stripes, named by Homes and Gardens as “Stripe Drenching”, a design approach not for the faint-hearted!

Stripe Drenching by Lulu & Georgia

Retailers like John Lewis, M&S, Dunelm and Ikea regularly feature stripes as a mainstay of their home furnishing collections with extensive ranges of curtains, blinds and soft furnishings reflecting the ongoing popularity of striped fabrics in domestic settings:

Stripes in Interiors are reliable, stylish and endlessly adaptable. Whether you prefer classic ticking stripes or bold modern designs, striped soft furnishings are one of the easiest ways to inject personality, provide a design structure and create timeless style in your home.