KEY POINTS:
There's a little piece of happiness created every time colours collide in stripes, says Erin O'Malley.
Erin loves them so much that even though she works with them every day in her furnishings store, she still brings striped fabrics home to the villa she shares with husband Darran Mangelsdorf and their children Toby and Sophia.
"Stripes add energy just by looking at them. A stripe is always happy and it doesn't matter even if it's just a big stripe of white on white, you just pick up on that happy energy that it gives off", says Erin.
The sense of style that helps Erin and Darran find charming items for the store also follows them home.
There they've created a magical sanctuary out of a previously dated character home, overlaying it with personality and colourful touches.
Kids' artwork, oriental shades, French metal tables and chairs, stacks of books and antique pieces create an eclectic mix that reflects the family's love of the eccentric.
Among the stripes they've chosen at home are the classical taupe and red upholstery of a chair in Sophia's room and a striped cushion and contrasting throw on Toby's bed, which work with a Kath Kidston cowboy print pillowcase.
Surely not two different stripes so close together? Why not? Erin says stripes work well with plains, florals, linen textures and graphic prints.
"The key is to mix them tonally", she says. "Pick out one colour you want to emphasise and find a 'sister' fabric for it."
You can pick stripes of different widths or use one stripe in a rug and another in a cushion. Some fabrics come designed in two halves already, one with narrow lines and the other with a wider stripe, each complementing the other.
The couple started the business when Toby was small, and Darran was keen to switch careers from marketing. They shared a love of colour, although Erin confesses it was red she was really drawn to.
The name Madder & Rouge means red, twice. "Rouge" is French for red and "madder" is an antique rich, bold red made from the madder root, still used by painters.
"There used to be more red in the store, but I found that not everybody loves red like I do. People used to say, do you do it in blue? 'I would say, no, I only do red.'"
Their new lifestyle suits the couple and their family.
"I just really enjoy selling. I enjoy watching people feel happy with what they've purchased", says Erin. And of course, she adds, they feel particularly happy when it's a stripe.
Super Stripes
You can have safe stripes, too, says Erin. "A lady came in the other day with a taupe sofa and we chose a water hyacinth print and a safe stripe of taupe and blue."
Stripes add texture. Even if the fabric doesnt have a texture, the pattern makes it look as if it's tactile.
In a modern, minimal home, use just one lampshade or a chair for impact.
Think carefully before you upholster a whole sofa in a stripe. "A striped sofa is very strong", says Erin. "You have to be a particular sort of person, not afraid of a statement in a piece of furniture, to have colour in a big block like that."
Vertical striped curtains make a room look taller, horizontal striped rugs make a room look wider.
* Brenda Ward is the editor of Your Home & Garden
