Making a Striped Fabric Decision

Settee in need of refurbishing - I had a hard time deciding what to do with it!

Usually when buying well-constructed upholstered furniture for a redo, I know the fabric and the wood finish color (if part of the refurbishing project) I will use before I get the piece home. I have 100's of fabrics and at least eight Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) finishes to choose from so the coordination of these two critical design elements is fairly easy. Sometimes, however, I cannot make up my mind and I go through the angst of revisiting each choice I've make dozens of times. This is one of those occasions.

I picked up the nice settee above about three weeks ago thinking it would only need fabric but discovered that the woodwork was in pretty rough shape so it would need redoing as well. Of course, the fabric and finish need to work together so that started an effort to coordinate various fabric and finish looks. I had almost decided when I picked up a nice linen with velvet stripe fabric. For some reason, I got nervous about the idea of stripes on this piece even though I have used stripes extensively over the years - just not on wider pieces like this one. So, I plugged in "stripes on sofas and loveseats" to see internet images of striped pieces and also checked out various "decorating with stripes" articles just to get a better feeling for the look.

Here are some of the affirming images I saw and advice given on using stripes in home decor.

First of all, a push against conventional wisdom:

You know how designers and books and magazines always encourage you to buy the bigger pieces of furniture in a solid neutral color so they’ll last forever in case you change design styles?  Sometimes it’s good to fly in the face of convention.  link to full article

As well as an article about coordinating with stripes:

As prints go, stripes are relatively simple which makes them a great candidate for combining with other less versatile prints. For instance, florals or paisleys could be a lot of fun.  Use a striped blanket with floral pillows or a striped couch with a floral throw piece.  link to full article

So, then I looked at images (all of which are available on my pinterest board with some original source data - link.

How great are these (see source information above). I was particularly enlightened (and inspired) by the last piece since my fabric is a blue and cream stripe and I plan to use "old white" ASCP to refinish the woodwork - what a stunning piece!

So, at some future point, I will be showing the finished product - but here is the before preview - what do you think?

Stripe I plan to use on this piece - the woodwork will be redone in ASCP "Old White" which should blend nicely with the linen background. Now, I am enthusiastic to start the project!