Striped Bedding Styling Advice

We’re kicking off our Secret Style Advice series, where we’ll be sharing the very best ways to style your space for sleep perfection, with one of our favourite styling staples: stripes. We have a whole linen cupboard chock-full of wonderful  striped bed linen  to choose from and lots of ideas for how to style them for every home. Whether you need a little help getting started on your striped journey or want to know how to perfect your pattern pairing prowess, here are a few tried and true tricks from us to you.

Perhaps you’re looking to dip your toe into the world of striped splendour but aren’t quite ready to make the full leap. Start small: one of the easiest ways to add some subtle stripes to your space is by choosing patterns with a low contrast between the base and stripe colour. Our stunning Natural Sid Stripe 100% Linen or our Duck Egg Tiny Stripe 100% Cotton Bed Linen  are the perfect examples, their soft muted tones will create a calming space with just a hint of stripes.

If you want to play with some bolder stripes but aren’t ready to commit to a full bed of lined loveliness, choose a plain duvet cover in your most favourite colour and pair with stripey cushions and throws in the same. You could even add a stripey sheet or some pillowcases to tuck amongst the plain bed linen.

Harriet's Pick: I am a sucker for a striped sheet so my pick would be French Blue Sid Stripe fitted sheet with a Navy 100% Linen duvet cover, two Navy linen standard pillowcases, two French Blue Sid Stripe pillowcases and a Lewes throw on top. Stripes on plain, on stripes!

A big, bold (and maybe even bright) stripe is the first thing that comes to mind when we think of adding this pattern to our space. Let your bed do the talking when you pick thicker stripes or even those in a bold colour. Our Olive Green Piper Stripe 100% Cotton or Blue Seb Stripe Cotton Linen bed linens are a great place to start, their wide stripes mean they really stand out. Pair with solid colours or muted tones to really let them do the talking.

If you’d rather let your accessories shine, then we suggest choosing your accessories in a colour that contrasts with your bed linen. We’re big fans of a monochromatic look to create stand-out-stripes and our favourite combination would be off-white and black striped accessories with a deep charcoal bed linen.

Amy’s Pick: I really like mixing a strong stripe with softer colours. I’d start with our Navy Coastal Stripe bedding on the front pillows and duvet cover, then I’d pair it with our Dusty Pink Super Soft Cotton bed linen to soften the look. If you prefer adding different textures to your space, I think it would look great with our Blush Pink 100% Linen too.

Perhaps you’re a stripe lover like us. Can you really ever have too many stripes? We don’t think so, which is why our third stripe style tip is to mix stripes with… well, stripes! Mixing different striped patterns together can give a room a real sense of playfulness and whimsy, but there is a simple rule to follow. Contrast your stripes. Whether they are different sizes, different colours or striped in different directions do make sure to mix it up a bit.

Try pairing a vertical striped bed linen with a horizontally striped throw or perhaps a thicker striped bed linen with smaller stiped pillowcases to create stripe mixing magnificence. However you decide to pair your patterns, don’t forget to mix in those all important solid pieces to tie the look together.

Molly’s Pick: It's Red Ticking Stripe Cotton Linen Bed Linen for me, all the way. I have always loved this colour the best. The photography and the styling, and the stripes, one of my very faves and happily mixed in on my bed with our Cream 100% Linen .

You don’t have to be a design maximalist to embrace our final stripe style advice (though you’ll be more than at home here if you are), you just need a love for bold combinations and a striking space. There are a whole plethora of patterns out there for you to play with and so many creative combinations just waiting to happen, and stripes make the perfect addition when mixing and matching patterns.

The best way to achieve this look is by choosing your most favourite maximalist print first. Whether that’s stripes, check, floral or chevron, use this pattern as your basis for building your complete combination and choose subtler prints that will complement it. Dress it down by selecting other patterns in the same colour family, or in neutral shades or if your show-stopping pattern has lots of colours, you could even pick out a few of these as the base for your partner patterns. Don’t forget to add those solids too, to break up all your patterns and prints and create some calm.

Another great way to elevate your look is by adding some texture to your perfectly patterned palette, with cosy throws, draping flat sheets or a cushion or two (or five?). You could even add the illusion of stripes with one of our Quilted Throws , simply throw over your bed for an effortless touch of texture.

Rosie’s Pick: I just love our Elodie 100% Cotton bed linen with its riot of colour and nothing seems like a more perfect partner for it than our Vintage Rose Sid Stripe linen, with the tiniest of Vintage Rose and off-white stripes. I’d mix in our Darkest Spruce 100% Linen and our White 100% Linen to tie it all together. Just dreamy!​​

Hopefully these tips have earned us our (bed linen) stripes and have inspired you to get creative with your styling. Do tell us, what’s your favourite way to style stripes?

Have a super stripey day all!