Dining chair slip covers, like all slip covers, have a dual function. They change both the surface appearance and a chair's lines. While the design of dining chair slip covers will naturally soften a chair's lines, if the cover has a bold pattern, it can make the chair's lines even more pronounced.

The Effect of Lines
Like color, the response that lines can bring about, can be either subtle or dramatic. They're part of a room's energy level and balance. And like color accents, lines can provide focal points. A room with few lines is dull, but a room with too many lines is just as intense as a room with too many colors. Whatever room's existing lines are, you can adjust their effect with the lines of your furnishings. For instance, if you wanted to increase the vertical lines in a dining room, you could have dining chair slip covers with short skirts that left the chair legs exposed.

Straight Lines
The simpler the line, the easier it is for your eye to follow. And since straight lines are the simplest, it's easy to use them to help set the energy level of a room. Because most houses are built with a box shape, horizontal and vertical lines are most prevalent.

Horizontal lines, like a house's foundation, produce a feeling of support, security and relaxation. Vertical lines have a higher energy level than horizontal lines and are good at bringing a more formal feel to a room. Of the three types of straight lines, diagonals produce the greatest feeling of energy and motion. And so while dining chair slip covers with horizontal and vertical striped patterns can be comforting, diagonal stripes would make it hard to sit still.

Curved Lines
Curved lines soften the effect of straight lines and reflect the curved shapes found in nature. Their energy level can range from a soothing rounded chair top to a dynamic spiral staircase. And the selection of a pattern or lack of one for dining chair slip covers, will determine whether simple or complex curves are dominant. Curved lines can also be used like intermediate colors and provide a transition between horizontal and vertical lines.