DECORATING ADVICE : Picking Drapery of the Right Stripe

Question: My house is 80 years old. The ceilings and woodwork are white. The walls are ice blue; the new carpet is medium blue. What would you suggest for draperies and paint? Would blue draperies with winter white sheers, festoons and cascades look all right?

My windows are long, and there is a white baseboard radiator under both windows. The upholstery on my couch is a white, light-yellow and light-avocado brocade. One chair is light yellow, one is light avocado, and one is a white high-back chair. Should I keep them? Would cream draperies and walls work?

Patricia Foley

Answer: Since you have the yellow, cream and avocado brocade on your sofa, choose a yellow, white, melon and avocado stripe for the draperies. Hang the draperies over white sheers. Make sure the draperies are lined in a fabric that can withstand the heat of your baseboard radiators.

You might want to use tassel ties to hold back your drapery. The festoons can be yellow, lined in rich melon. Keep the white and the yellow chairs, but cover the light-avocado chair in the same stripe as the draperies. Accent your sofa with melon throw cushions, and use brass accessories.

Q: Enclosed is a picture of our family room, which we plan to redecorate in January. A large overhang on the patio makes the room fairly dark. The paneling has been painted light cream. The furniture, cabinets and trim are all oak. We need new carpeting, and we need upholstery for the love seats, chairs and ottoman. We also need accessories. The carpet and upholstery must be practical, because the room gets a lot of traffic.

Ursula Norby

A: Consider covering the light-cream paneling with a soft-blue paint (the same blue in the wallpaper that covers your dado area). For carpeting in your family room area, choose a rich rose color with a border of soft blue and cream. The carpet company Couristan has a rose and blue pattern that might be appropriate.

For the love seats, pick a soft blue and rose tweed, and accent the sofas with cushions to match your dining room drapery fabric. On your club chair and ottoman, use a rose, blue and cream stripe. Find a blue and white antique quilt for a throw on your love seats.

Q: We are redoing our living room. The design of the couch and matching love seat is traditional, but the fabric has a contemporary Southwest design--a geometric bold print featuring dark green, teal, wine, cranberry and honey-beige. We are having the oak floors sanded.

We have a Queen Anne cherry coffee table, along with an end table of a matching design, that we think we’ll have to discard. The couch seems to need something more contemporary. We would appreciate ideas for the wall color and window coverings. Our woodwork is painted white now.

There is a front bay window and one other window. The fireplace mantel is white and has traditional moldings, which we can’t change. We haven’t chosen a color for the area rug, but we are considering white. We’d like a casual, comfortable, but slightly elegant look.

Lorna Murphy

A: Your letter suggests that you wish a contemporary look. However, you have some Queen Anne pieces and a traditional setting with white moldings and a classic mantel.

Since you want the look to be casual, discard the cherry tables and replace them with a coffee table that has a modern pecan look; a Parson’s design piece would look right. The end table can be pecan also, perhaps with a glass top.

Try a buttery color on the walls, and strip the white paint off your woodwork. Then bleach the woodwork and doors a rich white pine. For the window coverings, choose Roman blinds striped in buttery yellow, cream, green, beige and white.

Your area rug on the floor can be white and beige. Leave your sofa and love seat in the contemporary fabric, but accent them with buttery yellow throw pillows. Simplify your classic mantel if funds permit.