Black and White Stripe Obsession

painted black and white stripe magazine files with foo dogs

In case you read my last post, then you already know that I love black and white patterns. It started when I was a teenager on my trips to France when I discovered the black and white checkerboard tiles in old mansions and I couldn’t get enough of the beautiful contrast.
Of course you can put too much of it in a place and I have to restrain myself, but black and white sneaks in here and there.
I think it is just chic when you have it in some places.

A while ago I stumbled across black and white striped magazine folders that were way too expensive.

black and white striped Semikolon Magazine File Box

Semikolon Magazine File Box (not for sale anymore)

black and white Semikolon Decorative Office Collection

the Semikolon Decorative Office Collection by Pierre Belvedere

black and white striped bins from container store

Love these bins from the container store and thank you Annie for surprising me with it!

Semikolon CD-photo box from organize.com

black and white stripe See Jane Work Paperboard Letter Sorter

See Jane Work Paperboard Letter Sorter from office depot

Aren’t they all awesome? I can picture a nice bright yellow, pink or orange desk with those accessories.

So I decided to paint some Ikea magazine files that I had in my basement in black and white stripes. They are very cheap and made from wood.

I rolled on some oil based primer and white semi-gloss paint. I had to sand lots before and in between coats since the wood was ruff and had some splinters.

white painted wooden Ikea magazine files

I taped off the stripes and spray painted the semi-gloss black on.

taped white painted wooden Ikea magazine files

They look fabulous and I love them!

And one more thing:
One of the craziest black and white striped projects I have ever done was for my sister-in-law a couple of years ago who also happens to love stripes. We used this bathroom as our inspiration:


Stephen Shubel Bathroom

And this is a picture after we were almost done. I have to go over to her house and take some more pictures. It was a neck braking, pain in the … project. But it certainly is cool.