Guide · For the trade
Striped rugs: scale, direction and construction, specified for the trade
Striped rugs do two jobs a solid cannot: they stretch a room in whichever direction the stripe runs and they hide traffic and soil better than any plain field. The decisions are the stripe width (a 1/2 to 1 inch pinstripe reads as a texture, a 4 to 8 inch band reads as a pattern), the direction (across the room to widen it, along the room to lengthen it), and the construction, which is a flatweave or hand-loomed wool for a soft tailored stripe and a Wilton for a crisp one. Through Interiors there are about 218 striped styles across 38 mills and brands, most of them 13 ft 2 in or 15 ft broadloom that cuts into any size of rug or runner in 3 to 5 weeks.
This guide is for the designer or the junior putting a striped rug into a scheme and deciding how wide, which way and in what. It covers stripe scale, direction, the constructions that carry a stripe well, the colorways clients ask for, outdoor stripes and the stripe on a stair.
Stripe width: the first decision
Stripe scale sets the mood before color does. A pinstripe or ticking stripe at 1/4 to 1 inch is a texture from across the room and a pattern only up close, which makes it the safe stripe under a busy upholstery scheme. A 2 to 3 inch regimental stripe is the classic for a study, a hall and a stair. Awning and cabana stripes at 4 to 8 inches are a statement, best in a large room, a porch or a child's room where the rug is the one pattern. Mixed-width stripes, a wide band flanked by narrow ones, are the compromise: enough pattern to carry a room, enough repetition to stay calm. In a rug under 6x9, keep the widest band under 4 inches or the piece looks like three stripes and a border.
Which way the stripe runs
Stripes running the short way across a room make it read wider; stripes running the long way make it read longer. In a narrow living room, run the stripe across. In a square room, either works, so run it toward the focal point: toward the fireplace or the view. In a hall or on a stair the stripe runs with the length, always, which is why a striped runner is cut lengthwise from the roll and why a broadloom stripe that is woven across the width (some Wiltons are) has to be checked before it is cut.
Construction: which stripe for which job
| Construction | How the stripe reads | Where it goes | Fiber and width |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flatweave, hand-woven | Soft, slightly irregular edge, the dhurrie and ticking look | Living rooms, bedrooms, beach houses, layered under a hand-made rug | Wool, wool-cotton, wool-jute blends; 13 ft 2 in to 16 ft 4 in widths; about 50 striped styles |
| Hand-loomed wool | Tonal, textured, loop or cut-loop stripes in one color family | Bedrooms, studies, a quiet stripe wall-to-wall | New Zealand wool, 15 ft widths; about 46 styles |
| Wilton | Crisp, hard-edged, up to 12 colors in one design | Stairs, halls, dining rooms, any high-traffic room | Wool or 80/20 wool-nylon, 12 ft and 13 ft 2 in; about 36 styles |
| Machine-woven polypropylene | Clean and colorfast, flat profile | Porches, mudrooms, kitchens, outdoor | 100 percent polypropylene, 13 ft 2 in; about 32 styles |
Prestige Mills carries the deepest striped library, around 119 styles across its Stripes and Tailored Plaid and Stripes groups in Wilton, flatweave and tufted wool; Couristan is next with about 43, most of them woven polypropylene for indoor-outdoor use; Bloomsburg add Wilton stripes for stairs. The stripe filter sorts all of them by construction and fiber.
Colorways clients ask for
Black and white striped rugs are the most searched and the hardest to use: in a flatweave they are graphic and modern, in a Wilton they are formal and in a room with much else going on they fight. Specify them where the rug is the only pattern. Blue striped rugs, from navy on ivory to a faded chambray, are the coastal default and sell in every width from pinstripe to cabana. Brown, tan and camel stripes on a natural ground are the quiet version, the one that works with a wool-jute flatweave in a family room. Green and red stripes are the study and garden-room choices. For a custom colorway, most Wilton and flatweave stripes recolor on the mill's own loom in 8 to 16 weeks, which is the route when the client's fabric is the reference.
Striped outdoor rugs
The outdoor stripe is a polypropylene flatweave or machine-woven piece, solution-dyed so the color is in the fiber and a season of sun does not fade it, with a pile that drains and dries. Specify it for a covered porch, a pool deck or a mudroom, in 5x8, 8x10 or 9x12, or cut to the deck from 13 ft 2 in broadloom and bound with a matching tape. The outdoor filter has about 236 polypropylene styles and the striped ones are the best sellers in it. See the indoor-outdoor rugs guide for the pad and drainage details.
The striped runner, in the hall and on the stair
A striped runner is the single most asked-for stair treatment in our order book and it is easy to get right if the stripe runs the length of the runner and the two outside stripes are symmetrical, which means the runner is cut on the stripe's center line, not at an arbitrary width. Standard runner widths are 27, 32 and 36 inches; with a stripe, we cut to the nearest symmetrical width instead, which is often 28 or 30 inches and the installer gets the same width for the hall. A Wilton or a dense flatweave holds the stripe straight on a stair; under a flatweave on wood, specify a 1/8 inch rubber pad so the edge stays flat. The striped stair runner guide covers the fastening and the hall runners guide covers lengths.
Questions designers ask
Do striped rugs make a room look bigger?
They make it look longer in the direction of the stripe. Across a narrow room, the room reads wider; along a short room, longer. Light grounds with narrow stripes add the most apparent size; a wide dark stripe does the opposite.
How wide should the stripes be in a living room rug?
For an 8x10 or 9x12 under a seating group, 2 to 4 inch bands in two or three colors are the proportion that reads as a pattern from the doorway and as a stripe from the sofa. Go wider, 6 to 8 inches, only in a large room with little other pattern.
Can a striped rug be made in a custom size or a custom color?
Yes. Most striped styles are broadloom and cut to any size in 3 to 5 weeks; a stripe can also be recolored on a mill program in 8 to 16 weeks. Send the fabric or the pom and we match the strike-off to it.
Are striped rugs practical with children and dogs?
More practical than a solid: a multi-color stripe hides tracked-in soil and the occasional stain better than any plain field. Choose wool or polypropylene over viscose and a flatweave or Wilton over a deep pile.
Which stripe works with a patterned sofa?
A pinstripe or a tonal hand-loomed stripe. It gives the floor texture without a second pattern competing with the fabric. Save the bold stripe for a room with solid upholstery.
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