Something I love about Venice is the classic, crisp awning stripes that are widely used as decorative accents – especially outdoors. I’ve always admired the striped mooring poles in the canal and the different color combinations of stripes throughout the city. I’ve written about my stripe obsession before, but seeing stripes in the traditional setting of Venice during my recent visit reinforced just how cool and fun they are as an accent detail.
The trip gave me a lot of ideas for future design projects. In particular, a historic country house I’m redesigning. The house, which belongs to a young family, is lovely, with wood beams and old plank floors. We wanted to keep the classic lines, but infuse fresh, crisp decorative details. The lively stripes I saw throughout Venice felt like exactly the kind of graphic accent the house needed. With a nod to Venice, we’re adding a series of stripes in bold red and grey-blues throughout the kitchen and breakfast room (see our design board, below). Mixed with natural materials like rattan, walnut wood, and antique brass, the effect is both clean and effortless, which I think is the ideal mix for a weekend retreat!
Here are a few of my favorite stripe details from Venice that have helped inform the project:
And here’s an inspiration board of striped pieces we’ll add to the home:
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