A cottage-style bed, with its playful
mix of bedding and monogrammed
pillows, charms the room's young
occupants.

Wide Horizontal Stripes

Thick, thin, up and down, or sideways -- stripes add style to walls. Paint them in a color that tugs at the heartstrings, and you have a room sure to make memories.

In this bedroom for young sisters created for the 2004 York Show House in Maine, designers Diane Hughes and Barbara Vaughn chose bold horizontal stripes in pink. "Children love stripes in their bedrooms," Hughes says, "and they create a fabulous backdrop for the furnishings." She also believes these girls will appreciate their customized walls as they grow older.

 

Plaid-silk window treatments
inspired the room's palette.

When pondering color schemes, Hughes and Vaughn found memories of their own girls came flooding back. "We each have two daughters, and they all loved pink," Hughes says. She selected pale pink and salmon glazes to create alternating light and dark stripes.

The wide stripes contrast softly and create a feeling of movement in the space; in general, the wider the stripes, the larger a room appears. Horizontal lines lend a contemporary flair, while vertical stripes complement traditional decor.