Every month this year our collage-artist-laureate Mel Kolstad is creating a new assemblage that helps us to celebrate the houses that we’re in. (That’s a house pendant she also created – click on it to go to her etsy.com shop.) An open thread to go with this month’s red-headed muse: Do you use the color red in your house? Where is it working well? Tips for other readers?
Tut says
One red cubical fabric lampshade in the corner of the chocolate-milk brown family room, and one red dish towel hanging on the side of the fridge in the green-apple-ish kitchen. The rooms are open to each other, and those little spots of red on the complete opposite ends balance each other and make a statement.
Andrea says
Janice, I LOVE your family room—WOW!!
Janice says
I used red quite a bit in my family room. I have slate grey low pile shag carpeting with the exact same color on my couch. I then found his and her 1950’s lounge chairs that I had recovered in red tone on tone patterned fabric. I have lots of red in throw pillows on the couch, artwork and accessories. The walls are a mustard yellow and all together, it makes a great combination – or at least I think so! You can see my family room at http://www.flickr.com/photos/retro-kitty/
Maryanna, I love the fabric in your drapes. Would love to have that in my kitchen. Are they vintage?
Hillary says
Our front door is red! It’s so cheerful and welcoming. My daughter refers to our house as “the red door house.”
carole says
I love red, and yes I use it in my house. It’s mostly used as an accent color (pillows, etc), but I finally bought a red chair that I just love. And soon, the walls in my living room will be painted a dark red. I’m a native of the PNW and color is the only way to survive the cloudy days. 🙂
nancy burton says
I couldn’t live w/out red! It is so happy! In my last home we had mustard walls in our dining room w/ red trim & shutters-I loved it! Now in our 50’s home we have a red fridge & dishwasher in our teal (aquamarine) kitchen. That makes for a very happy, pleasant place to be. I also have little bits of red throughout the house in old barkcloth pillows & drapes.
Patty (in Dallas) says
In my new kitchen I have red Silestone countertops. Years ago I bought a chrome dining table with a red Formica top and started collecting tons of red dishes and knick-knacks to go in my future kitchen. Unfortunately, the red table didn’t stick around long enough, but fortunately, my red-junk collection did.
Andrea says
I hadn’t really stopped to think about it, but I have a lot of red in my house, too (’52 Cape). All shades and variations. Only the kitchen has a true “cherry” red, as in red Fiestaware, and the color is a great accent to the aquamarine countertops and walls.
Other rooms include deep red Oriental carpets, lamp shades here and there, accent chairs, throw pillows, red stripes or patterns in upholstery fabric, a deep “Tibetan” red paint under the dining room chair rail, red above the chair rail in foyer and hallway (a rusty terra cotta red called Foxy by Sherwin Williams, I love it & we get a lot of compliments on it), red in a stained glass light fixture…well, it goes on. Guess I do love red in all its incarnations!
lady brett says
oh, i love red!
i semi-accidentally gained quite a collection of red accessories. somehow, every kitchen gift i’ve gotten from my family was red. but mostly it was because i was – until last year – in a fairly drab apartment, and for the first time in a position to buy some decor, which i think led me toward something to liven it up a little – red sheets, red towels, red throw for the couch.
i *love* everything red in my kitchen. if i could afford it, i would tile the floor in red/terracotta, to go with the lovely white cabinets i want (and, of course, the red appliances =)
on the other hand, now that i have a bit more freedom of decorating, i’m not as keen on my red sheets and such. now that we’ve painted the walls a really lovely color i don’t feel the need for the bed to be an accent point anymore.
Rebecca Prichard says
I have Typhoon’s red breadbox. My love for it is great. I have the red scale, too. I think a red Kitchen Aid would be awesome.