When I was dreaming of how to decorate my little lake house, I had a garden of options to chose from. Owning home furnishings stores loaded with looks you adore is like being a kid in a candy store, for sure. Any of the styles, color schemes and pattern mixes we spotlight at Nell Hill’s would have been fabulous, which made the decision making in my decorating journey even more fun.
After long, delicious deliberation, I decided to go with the love of my life: an evolved, traditional style brought to life with the help of black and white ticking and buffalo plaid. Here’s a glimpse of how I used these two modest patterns in modern ways to make my new home a haven.
Timeless Upholstered Furniture
Our lake home is cozy, so our life will happen in a few snug rooms. It was essential that key furnishings in these spaces be versatile enough for me to alter their look on a whim, whether for the changing of the season or to weave in new colors and patterns that catch my fancy. I knew a simple black and white ticking was the perfect pick, so I washed the entire living room in it. In the winter, I dressed up the furniture with tartan plaid pillows. For summer, I swapped them out for a hodge-podge of more modern pillows, pictured above.
I first fell in love with formal furnishings upholstered in ticking back when I was in my 20s. I had visited an acquaintance who had inherited several heavy, ornate antiques. The look wasn’t for her, so she lightened and brightened the pieces by reupholstering them in ticking.
The idea of formal furnishings done in modest patterns captivated me and I couldn’t get it out of my brain. So many years later, I began to experiment with the power of ticking in my own home. I did the porch cushions in this subtle stripe because it acted almost like white furniture, embracing every color and pattern you put with it, yet still added a hint of pattern.
Every time we cover a piece of furniture in ticking at Nell Hill’s, it flies off the showroom floor. So I began to feature other simpler fabrics on formal pieces. That’s when my love light started to burn brighter for black and white buffalo plaid. This four-inch check is a big, statement fabric that plays well in the sandbox with everyone else. It makes me swoon.
Like ticking, furniture upholstered in buffalo check can be dressed up in lots of different ways, depending upon what kind of pillows and throws you pair it with, the other furnishings in the room and the wall color.
Restful Bedding
Ticking and buffalo plaid are also ideal additions to bedding. They provide threads of texture and pattern without competing with showier accent fabrics. The shot above shows how I used ticking on a bed at my lake house. Ticking pillows are just right year round, and here, act as a backdrop for summery blue and white pillows.
My friend Marsee took a similar approach when designing her own bedding. Like me, she loves a simple color palette in her bedroom, and, like me, gravitates to all things black and white.
If you want to go bolder, include shams or a duvet made from buffalo check. The plaid euros in this ensemble at Nell Hill’s Briarcliff give this bed energy. They look sensational matched with the red pieces on the bed.
Stunning Window Treatments
I picked buffalo check for the draperies in a bedroom at my lake house because it is such a chameleon; it looks lovely paired with winter or summer accents. This restful window seat next to the bed blends the timeless beautify of the buffalo check drapes and a ticking cushion, made lighter with two summer pillows. In the winter, I’ll switch the pillows for rich plaids and add in a throw.
Next Week … Summer is a wonderful time to celebrate your friends with a special gathering at your home. I will share tips and photos from a ladies luncheon I hosted at my home a few weeks ago.
Pretty and Painted: A New Way to Look at Wood Furniture
Finding the Perfect Upholstered Piece
From the Archives: 3 Steps to a Beautiful Bedroom
The Art of Pattern Mixing
Theresa Wagner says
June 9, 2014 at 9:59 amThanks!
Brenda Nowell says
June 9, 2014 at 3:49 pmI could not agree more!! Buffalo plaid check and ticking are so versatile, and I am always drawn to them regardless of how used. In fact, I’m trying to find both black and soft yellow buffalo plaid fabrics right now to use in my bedroom!! Love your blog and your stores Mary Carol!
sandy mccune says
June 9, 2014 at 4:45 pmTicking and check have always been my favorites. I have blue and white buffalo check in my bedroom for drapes. My living room has a blue and white quilted buffalo check cloth on my round table.Growing up my parents had black and white ticking on the beamed ceiling in their family room. I think that’s why I like it so much. I have a little Victorian chair in my guest room that I would like to reupholster with ticking. Glad you like these too.
franki says
June 9, 2014 at 6:20 pmThere we go again…my couch is covered in the summer with red/white ticking slipcover…pillows…buffalo check (and some striped and some paisley, etc.) Bedroom bench is again…ticking. It’s just the way we operate! franki
Maureen Purcell says
June 9, 2014 at 6:41 pmYou are simply amazingly talented! I love everything you do but this time I really fell in love!
Mary Carol says
June 9, 2014 at 6:46 pmSo glad to share my love of ticking and check with such amazing decorators! Love hearing how you guys are using these familiar, but fabulous, fabrics!
Joan Whelan says
June 9, 2014 at 7:41 pmAbsolutely beautiful ! I know my daughter will love it.
Lisa Fernandez says
June 9, 2014 at 7:47 pmHow I love ticking! And your lake how looks so dreamy. I could imagine you sitting and reading by the lake. How lovely. So happy for you. Oh my gosh I want to bring in some ticking into my family room. Absolutely love these photos and this post.
xoxo
Lisa
Judy Davis says
June 9, 2014 at 10:58 pmI love the ticking and buffalo plaid. We live on Grand Lake and I especially love ideas for lake homes. Ticking seems a perfect way to bring a casual look into a room.
Carol says
June 10, 2014 at 6:11 amI love the daybed on your porch. Is it a piece that you sell it?
Penny L says
June 10, 2014 at 9:37 amDoes the Buffalo check come in red? Would love to have it in draperies in my kitchen dining area.
Debra says
June 10, 2014 at 9:10 pmTicking has alway been my fav!! Wonderful post – but they all are!
Mildred Hoppe says
June 12, 2014 at 7:19 pmDo you sell the lamp that is in your master bedroom lakehouse, sitting on the chest of drawers?
Black shade, goldish, flowery….
Mary Carol says
June 13, 2014 at 8:43 amHI! Carol, that day bed is an antique I’ve had for years. It was so popular with my open house guests through the years, we did have it replicated to sell at Nell Hill’s. Call us to see if it’s in — 877-746-4320.
Penny, we carry buffalo check in a variety of colors, and it’s always changing. Give us a call at the number above to see what we have in right now.
Mildred, the photo of the lovely bedroom is from my friend’s home, not mine (wish it was mine!). We have lots and lots of simply fabulous lamps at Nell Hill’s – you have got to come and see. (Lamps are one of my many passions!)
Michelle Reeves says
June 13, 2014 at 10:48 amLove your post. We are getting ready to down size and this also is my choice of fabric. I just think in the long run it will require less seasonal change out things. I’m like you with seasonal change outs. Is there a web sight that has great fabric choices to look through? We live in a small town with not many choices in retail. Keep up the good work, always enjoy your post.
Bev Mauck says
June 16, 2014 at 6:17 pmIs the paisley pillow fabric on the buffalo check couch available by the yard & if so what is the price? Thank you.
Lydia Jones says
June 24, 2014 at 10:35 amI like your work, but I do think that you need a different blog design. The pictures are much too small.