From House and Garden:
Ticking, that satisfyingly sturdy striped fabric, has a practicality and versatility that is arguably unmatched. Not only is it suitable for upholstery as well as curtains (and even clothes), but it can be chic against toiles, pretty with florals, can add interest to monochrome, blend harmoniously with other stripes, or bring balance and grounding to maximalism. Plus, it’s equally at home in a townhouse, cottage, castle or even industrial-style warehouse, where it softens the rawness of exposed brick. And it comes in a range of prices, starting at very affordable, and rising.It is the late American design legend Sister Parish who is credited with having made ticking mainstream; she used it in her own house for curtains. (Famously, Parish was Jacqueline Kennedy’s interior designer; she and Jackie spent the entire $50,000 White House redecoration budget in two weeks, on the personal quarters. Bearing in mind inflation, it makes the recent Soane-ing of Downing Street look positively parsimonious.) Before Parish, ticking was a utility fabric, used for encasing pillows and mattresses in the centuries before open coil, pocket sprung and memory foam became watchwords for comfort, when typical mattress content included straw and twigs as well as wool, horsehair and feathers (all the potential for a rather prickly bedbase!) The word ‘ticking’ derives from the Latin word tica and the Greek word theka, both meaning covering. (Read more.)

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