Home Decorating - Red, Red, Red, Part 1
As a rich basis for a wall color or an invigorating accent, red adds life and vivacity to a room. Though bold, it’s a warm and welcoming color, companionable at close quarters with a wide variety of shades.
Impressive and regal, bold and brave, red is the color of kings, but also of rebels; a color of formal tradition, but also the flag of change and renewal. Being the color of fire, red has instant warmth and draws the eye irresistibly. As a color to live with, you may love it or hate it, but few people will be indifferent to it. Used in quantity it makes a bold, confident statement but it takes courage to use it this way. As a partner to other colors, red makes a lively contrast, bringing a fizz and resonance to quieter combinations - and you can add it in splashes as an accent to give a spark of welcome.
In the color wheel, red is at the heart of the warm section of the spectrum, the hottest shades being pure vermilion or scarlet. Around them range a whole selection of gentler shades which are often easier to use and make delightful partners for many other hues.
Moving towards the orange section of the spectrum, red attains a rusty tinge, giving the antique look of Chinese lacquer and fading to the softer tones of terra cotta and coral - all wonderful to enliven schemes of jade green, turquoise, or deep aquamarine. Sliding around the wheel towards the cool blues, you find the elegant jewel tones of crimson, plum, and burgundy, which make an attractive glowing foil for gold and silver, or subtle partners for bottle green, lime, or sage. Even alarm-box red has a cool tinge to it, being on the bluer side of true scarlet; it is often difficult to discriminate between these fiery shades, but worthwhile in order to use them to their best advantage.
If you want to give this color its head as star of the show, set it against any number of cool neutrals such as dove gray, cream, fawn, beige, or ivory, where its brilliant vitality can shine undisputed.
All-Over Red
Interior decorators of antiquity were far bolder with strong colors than is generally supposed. The walls of Roman, Greek, and Etruscan villas were covered with panels of glowing red, ocher, and green; Chinese palaces were lined with scarlet and gold and these were copied with enthusiasm in Regency chinoiserie drawing rooms; the Victorians used newly synthesized versions of costly crimson pigments to create rich, glowing backdrops for sumptuous entertaining.
Using a strong red as a basis for a wall color is a bold step but can be immensely successful in giving character to a room. Used with traditional furnishings, touches of gilt and dark wood, and richly patterned fabrics, the impression red gives is one of coziness and comfort.
A related article you might like is: “Do you Love Retro 70’s? Include it in your Home’s Interior Design“
©2007, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Want more great General Home Decorating ideas, tips, and advice? Visit the Do It Yourself Home Decorating Network (http://www.diyhomedecorating.com/) now to see what’s new, plus be sure to get signed up for our free Home Decorating Tips Letter Too!
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