If there is one color that makes an immediate and undeniable impact in any interior that it adorns, then it is the indomitable red! Fiery, passionate, and the universal color of love, red has often been relegated to the bedroom. While some modern homeowners love to infuse their kitchen with a splash of this brilliant hue, red living rooms are indeed a rarity. Yet no matter if it’s a feature wall, furniture, or the color palette for the entire house, red is definitely going to spice things up. I hope you enjoy this post, Decorating with Red: 22 Ways to use this Versatile Color, as we explore the different ways you might want to incorporate red into your home.
Pantone’s Huge Influence on Trending Colors – Viva Magenta
Pantone Color Institute is the authoritative consultancy that’s christened an “it color” every year for more than two decades. Its latest pick is none other than Viva Magenta 18-750, which it describes as “a shade rooted in nature descending from the red family and expressive of a new signal of strength.”
While last year’s color (Very Peri) also spoke to the balance between nature and technology, Pantone says what sets viva magenta apart is its “ability to answer our collective need for strength.”
“Three years deep into a pandemic, facing a war, an unstable economy, social unrest, supply chain breakdowns, and mounting climate change, we need to heal,” it adds. “And still, we need to find the motivation to continue. Here, Viva Magenta cloaks us in both power and grace, and sends us out into the world with the verve we’ve yearned for.” You may be interested in a blog we posted earlier this year, What is the Inspiration Behind 2023 Colors of the Year?
Red in the Living Room
Like other colors, responses to red often depend upon past experiences and cultural influences. Some may find red fun and playful, while others feel it is too bold, exciting, or even dominating. Consider your own feelings for the color red and think about how these factors may have contributed to your reaction (or lack of one) to this color. If you find it too bold or dominating, you could use just touches of red in your decorating theme. Another way to knock it down would be to create a complementary or split complementary color theme. Green is the complementary color to red, so you could use red along with green, or use green along with different shades of red.
Using Red in the Hallway
Red in the Home Office or Reading Room
There’s no reason your home office can’t be as beautiful and stylish as the rest of your home’s living space. Home offices can easily be neglected as the forgotten room when it comes to decorating, and maybe that’s because not all home offices are used as often as other rooms in the home, or maybe they are a space that’s tucked off in a corner that’s out of sight and out of mind.
Pantone’s color of the year for 2023 is Viva Magenta (a bold shade of red), so we are seeing a lot of red used in the home office. From a practical standpoint, red is an energizing and spirit-lifting color that is important in an office or study area.
Red in the Kitchen
A red kitchen is bold, and it’s beautiful. You have to really like it in the kitchen though because it is costly to change, especially if the cabinets have a red finish on them. Otherwise, you could keep things neutral and use splashes of red like kitchen chairs, linens, and decor pieces.
Red in Other Fun Areas of the House
I hope you’ve enjoyed, or were inspired by this blog, Decorating with Red: 25 Ways to use this Versatile Color. As always, we’d love to hear from you in the comment section below. Also if you’d like to know when we have new postings come out, be sure to subscribe to updates on the right. I’ve also posted some pins if you’d like to share them below.
Until next time …. Joy
Reference and Photo Credits: Decoist, House Beautiful, Wikipedia, Pinterest
