I am redoing the colors in my living/dining room area to grays, blacks and whites.  I purchased an all black tablecloth for dining area table and placed this runner over it.  The white strip really pops out against the black tablecloth and the gray strips on the edges tie it all together.  After ironing out a few folding wrinkles from the packing, the runner looks very crisp.  I like it much better than I thought I would.