Red is exciting. It draws attention. From red hearts to hot dresses and little red sports cars, this color can get the pulse racing. But it can also be connected with warning and anger — indeed, it’s deeply ingrained in us to associate red with risk, such as red-hot embers and poisonous berries.
Let us look at how to use this duplicitous of colours to bring excitement and warmth into our homes.
Debra Campbell Design
In feng shui, a red front door means “welcome.” In early colonial America also, a red door represented a secure refuge for passing travelers.
A reddish front door can give character to a house — I love the way the summer wreath was used here to reflect the season.
Rikki Snyder
In Chinese culture reddish symbolizes good fortune and joy — in most Eastern cultures, brides wear red. It is the perfect color to use to make an Asian house aesthetic, and it looks magnificent with black and gold.
Fougeron Architecture FAIA
The Chinese and ancient Egyptians practiced using colours to heal. They used red to stimulate your own body and mind and to increase circulation.
A great accent color, the red used in this bright reading area could make it the perfect place for analyzing a fantastic book.
Goforth Gill Architects
Red is perfect for highlighting a lovely feature or view. Balanced with calming green, the red used this is subtle but surely draws your eye on the windows and perspectives.
Product Bureau LLC
Some artists suggest adding a touch of red to any scheme. “Every area should have a touch of crimson — in a welt to cancel a paler color, in a pillow or a cut on a lampshade to bring some jazz,” says Katie Ridder. “It makes colours around it more interesting.” This chamber perfectly exemplifies this notion — the blue utilized this is amazing, but see the way the red makes it sing?
Book Tour: Katie Ridder Rooms
Isabel Beattie @ K Cabinets Oakville
An accidental discovery by NASA while researching the effects of red light on plant growth headed to Red Light Treatment, which is said to improve the production of collagen and help healthy skin. This probably isn’t a reason to present reddish light in your house, but it does look magnificent in this kitchen.
(m) + charles shore INTERIORS
Lots of restaurants use red in their own dining rooms. Many color therapists believe crimson stimulates appetite, but it’s also said to provoke dialogue.
It is a daring choice for walls, but if you pair it with one of its ideal partners — white — you can achieve a stunning and calming effect.
“Red is the color of the feng shui fire component, the color of warmth, enthusiasm and passion,” says feng shui expert Rodika Tchi. “Just like your body requires heat in any season, the same applies to your own residence, and that means it requires at least a bit of reddish color.”
Strike the ideal balance, particularly in bedrooms. Too much red could make it hard for you to sleep, while too little can make the room feel cold.
Clearly, accessories are the perfect solution — this red quilt definitely puts the bed as the main focus of the space.
Oceanside Glasstile
Red is a powerful and confident color choice for a whole area — do not listen to those who say we ought to paint modest rooms in pale colours. Powder rooms are the ideal place to play vivid and bold colors.
This powder area is perfect for a full-on crimson, adding excitement into one of the smallest rooms in the house.
Do you love red? Please show us your best red area.
More: guides to working with reddish