Our collaboration with Piglet in Bed proves that, as well as being beautiful and bold, stripes are remarkably easy to live with…
Pattern can make people somewhat nervous, especially when it comes to something as large as a sofa. That’s understandable, but a rather sad consequence is that, to some degree, sofas have become a little shy and plain, almost as if they weren’t supposed to be noticed in the room.
Go back half a century or more and you’d see all sorts of chintzes and florals and complicated patterns on sitting room furniture, and hardly a greige in sight.
Now of course, fashions come and go, which probably explains the reluctance – you don’t want to risk investing in a bold pattern you’ll later come to regret.
But at Schplendid we love challenging the modern sofa industry orthodoxy.
And that’s why we say, it’s high time for a return of the stripe… starting with our magnificent collaboration with Piglet in Bed: Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe.
So, to the question, “Why shouldn’t a sofa be striped?” – well, we have some very sound reasons why they should…
1) Stripes are much less frightening than people think
It’s important to remember that not all patterns behave in the same way. A large floral, for instance, is full of pictures so your eye ‘reads’ flowers, leaves, colours and repeats. It can be glorious, but it is very definitely doing something.
A stripe, on the other hand, gives you rhythm and form, but it doesn’t ask your eye to keep identifying things. In that sense, it behaves more like a texture than a picture; more like linen weave, a wood grain or the lines of floorboards.
That is why stripes are surprisingly easy to decorate around. A striped sofa can sit happily with plain cushions, checks, florals, rugs, lampshades, old paintings, books, dogs, children etc.
2) Stripes are timeless
Stripes are perfectly natural in the home because they’ve been used in domestic fabrics for hundreds of years: on mattress cloth, wallpapers, curtains, chairs, awnings and seats. ‘Ticking’ stripes began as working fabric, used for mattress covers because the cloth was tightly woven and practical.
In Regency rooms, they became grander, appearing on walls, silks, satins and upholstery. Clever things, stripes, because they can do both utility and elegance.
And of course, they can give a hint of the seaside and deckchairs and bandstands and ice creams and classic British summer holidays… a nostalgic aesthetic that will never go out of style.
3) Stripes are a way out of beige
After years of highly cautious interiors, it feels as though people are ready for a bit more life again.
A striped sofa is a very good way to begin: it gives you colour, but in an orderly sort of way.
4) You’re safe to experiment with a Schplendid sofa
There is a uniquely Schplendid reason, which makes the whole business of choosing fabric much less terrifying.
Most modern sofas are not really made with their second life in mind. By the time you have fallen out of love with the cover, the frame, foam and fillings may already be heading downhill too. So the fabric choice can feel horribly final: pick the wrong thing now, and you are stuck with it until the whole sofa gives up.
A Schplendid sofa is a different sort of proposition. Our Vesper, Big Bonnie, Wee Bonnie and Lenny sofas have removable covers anyway, but it goes deeper than that. The important bit — the frame, the springs, the natural layers, the comfort — is built to last for years and years and, with a little care, for generations.
So the cover is not the whole sofa, but simply the clothes the sofa happens to be wearing at this point in its long and useful life.
There is no need, then, to be quite so frightened of choosing something with a bit of character. If, years from now, you decide the room wants something calmer, darker, lighter, plainer or even stripey in a completely different way, the sofa can be recovered.
Not that we think anyone will tire of this particular stripe, obviously. We are not mad.
The Pembroke Stripe by Piglet in Bed
All of which brings us to our collaboration with Piglet in Bed.
Piglet in Bed are known for relaxed, beautiful linen bedding: the sort that looks better for not being too perfectly pressed. Their Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe takes its cue from vintage deckchairs, British seaside summers and all that lovely faded holiday feeling. We have taken that spirit and reimagined it as a Schplendid upholstery fabric: a heavyweight natural linen, made for proper sofas.
A striped sofa does not need to be a wild act of decorative courage. It can simply be a way of giving the room a bit more life. After all those years of grey, beige and greige, we think the poor old sofa deserves to enjoy itself a bit.
Order a free fabric sample of Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe (and any other styles you fancy) now.
And why shouldn’t a sofa be striped?
Our collaboration with Piglet in Bed proves that, as well as being beautiful and bold, stripes are remarkably easy to live with…
Pattern can make people somewhat nervous, especially when it comes to something as large as a sofa. That’s understandable, but a rather sad consequence is that, to some degree, sofas have become a little shy and plain, almost as if they weren’t supposed to be noticed in the room.
Go back half a century or more and you’d see all sorts of chintzes and florals and complicated patterns on sitting room furniture, and hardly a greige in sight.
Now of course, fashions come and go, which probably explains the reluctance – you don’t want to risk investing in a bold pattern you’ll later come to regret.
But at Schplendid we love challenging the modern sofa industry orthodoxy.
And that’s why we say, it’s high time for a return of the stripe… starting with our magnificent collaboration with Piglet in Bed: Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe.
So, to the question, “Why shouldn’t a sofa be striped?” – well, we have some very sound reasons why they should…
1) Stripes are much less frightening than people think
It’s important to remember that not all patterns behave in the same way. A large floral, for instance, is full of pictures so your eye ‘reads’ flowers, leaves, colours and repeats. It can be glorious, but it is very definitely doing something.
A stripe, on the other hand, gives you rhythm and form, but it doesn’t ask your eye to keep identifying things. In that sense, it behaves more like a texture than a picture; more like linen weave, a wood grain or the lines of floorboards.
That is why stripes are surprisingly easy to decorate around. A striped sofa can sit happily with plain cushions, checks, florals, rugs, lampshades, old paintings, books, dogs, children etc.
2) Stripes are timeless
Stripes are perfectly natural in the home because they’ve been used in domestic fabrics for hundreds of years: on mattress cloth, wallpapers, curtains, chairs, awnings and seats. ‘Ticking’ stripes began as working fabric, used for mattress covers because the cloth was tightly woven and practical.
In Regency rooms, they became grander, appearing on walls, silks, satins and upholstery. Clever things, stripes, because they can do both utility and elegance.
And of course, they can give a hint of the seaside and deckchairs and bandstands and ice creams and classic British summer holidays… a nostalgic aesthetic that will never go out of style.
3) Stripes are a way out of beige
After years of highly cautious interiors, it feels as though people are ready for a bit more life again.
A striped sofa is a very good way to begin: it gives you colour, but in an orderly sort of way.
4) You’re safe to experiment with a Schplendid sofa
There is a uniquely Schplendid reason, which makes the whole business of choosing fabric much less terrifying.
Most modern sofas are not really made with their second life in mind. By the time you have fallen out of love with the cover, the frame, foam and fillings may already be heading downhill too. So the fabric choice can feel horribly final: pick the wrong thing now, and you are stuck with it until the whole sofa gives up.
A Schplendid sofa is a different sort of proposition. Our Vesper, Big Bonnie, Wee Bonnie and Lenny sofas have removable covers anyway, but it goes deeper than that. The important bit — the frame, the springs, the natural layers, the comfort — is built to last for years and years and, with a little care, for generations.
So the cover is not the whole sofa, but simply the clothes the sofa happens to be wearing at this point in its long and useful life.
There is no need, then, to be quite so frightened of choosing something with a bit of character. If, years from now, you decide the room wants something calmer, darker, lighter, plainer or even stripey in a completely different way, the sofa can be recovered.
Not that we think anyone will tire of this particular stripe, obviously. We are not mad.
The Pembroke Stripe by Piglet in Bed
All of which brings us to our collaboration with Piglet in Bed.
Piglet in Bed are known for relaxed, beautiful linen bedding: the sort that looks better for not being too perfectly pressed. Their Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe takes its cue from vintage deckchairs, British seaside summers and all that lovely faded holiday feeling. We have taken that spirit and reimagined it as a Schplendid upholstery fabric: a heavyweight natural linen, made for proper sofas.
A striped sofa does not need to be a wild act of decorative courage. It can simply be a way of giving the room a bit more life. After all those years of grey, beige and greige, we think the poor old sofa deserves to enjoy itself a bit.
Order a free fabric sample of Rhubarb & Rose Pembroke Stripe (and any other styles you fancy) now.