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Seeing Red at Home: The Decor You Need

October 4, 2017

2024

Red.

It’s the color of fire, of blood, of life, of passion and love and anger. It has strong associations and representations, in our evolution as humans, in visual art, literature, poetry, politics, in everything. It’s not a color anyone chooses accidentally. Red is intentional. And it’s strong.

It happens to be my favorite color. And it happens to be the perfect color for making a home decor statement.

There was a funny conversation, where my three children asked me in front of my mother what my favorite color is (for the millionth time.) To that point, the answers they had received from me were: Grey. Definitely grey. Maybe orange. Black, yup, I’m sure. Black. White. Sometimes blue. But with my own mother standing there…smiling a silent smile that still said so much, I laughed, and told them the truth: Red. My favorite color is Red. It’s just so FUN!!! We all laughed out loud as my mother took them by their hands on a guided tour through our own home. Our home is mostly black, white, and grey. But anywhere there is a pop of color, the color is red: fruit bowl, tea pots, garden sculpture, garden chairs, kid table, toys on display, art. EVERYwhere we look at home, we see pops of red. We all came back laughing and agreeing that yes, mom loves red. And I do. It’s just the opposite of me in so many ways. I’m a six foot tall woman who spent much of her childhood trying to just blend in, while always standing-out in just standing tall. I had terrible acne as a teenager; that does not mix well with red clothing. I was afraid of red, but I loved it the same. Probably…because my own mother, with that sweet loving smirk on her face, she assigned me that color. I was red, my brothers were green and blue. Our towels followed that pattern, our special napping and cuddling blankets, notes and envelopes that were left for us, theme colors for parties, ribbons to mark our holiday gifts, basically anything at home for which a color was chosen, we got our color. That way we knew which was ours. It was a good system for keeping us organized. And apparently…it has lasting effects. While I know it has so many deep meanings, my own association with Red, and why I love it so, is probably just as simple as I grew up in a really fun home. Red makes me happy because I associate it with my childhood and with FUN! So in celebration of the truth of my favorite color also happening to be the favorite color of Fall 2017, here are a few of my favorite (Fun, Red) things:

Shop Red Living Indoors:

Shop Red Living Outdoor:

Shop Red Living Kids:

Shop Red Kitchen:

One more fun and meaningful use of Red at Home: Red Doors

Another of my favorite ways to work red into design is doors and entry ways. This use of red has SO much historic symbolism: from Exodus so the angel would pass seeing red on a door, for churches to represent protection from evil, during the Civil War American red doors symbolized safe homes that were part of the Underground Railroad system, in Chinese tradition the red symbolizes luck. Red doors even have good Feng Shui! So if your front door or front entry need a refresh or if you are struggling to decide exactly which color to paint one, my personal favorite is Benjamin Moore Heritage Red: Welcome, Happy, Safe, Love, bring on the positive energy and the FUN!!!