Decorating in Red

If there's a color that connotes power, love, excitement and imagination — a color that can literally stop you in your tracks — that color is red.

The color red can be either feminine or masculine, and it works in rooms of any size or purpose. Studies have shown, however, that the presence of red also can increase the heart rate and raise the blood pressure. Because red triggers such strong responses — both positive and negative — you must be careful when using it in the home.

With a little restraint and a good editing eye, however, being daring with red isn't difficult.

Living with Red

Whether you paint all your walls for ultimate drama or add red accents for bursts of exuberance, red is a glamorous go-to color that always makes a statement in both large and small doses. Katherine Fern, an interior design instructor for UCLA Extension, said there are only a few projects in which she hasn't used red in some form, as there are so many different hues and tones. "Red means 'Stop,' " she said. So, to keep the eye moving in a room, she incorporates red into a palette of other colors, as opposed to painting one red wall and leaving the others white.

Fern suggested not leaving the trim white if painting a red accent wall. "Red and white can make a room look Santa Claus-y," she said. "You want a flow. I usually paint the floorboard the same color as the wall, and some designers paint the trim a lighter shade of the wall color."

Continuity from room to room is important, Fern says. If a red accent wall can be seen from other rooms, you must assess all views of that wall. For example, if you see it through a doorway from a different room, make sure that doorway is a complementary color. Fern said gold, turquoise and teal work well with red. "Think in terms of a palette of colors and work an entire palette together," she said. "Maybe earth tones with red, for example."

Legwork is key to getting the right color, so go beyond simply picking out color chips at the paint store, Fern advises. To get an idea of how a color will work in a room at all hours of the day, either paint part of a wall or paint a foam board and prop it against a wall, and then move it around if necessary.

"Sometimes color looks great in sunlight, but loses its excitement at night," she said. "Look at it under varying conditions. If you have important pieces in your home you are building color around, see how it looks with those pieces."

Heavy on Personality, Low on Commitment: Red Accessories

If you don't want to tolerate the mess and work that comes with painting, "pops" of color — as Los Angeles-based interior designer Jonona Amor calls them — offer a way to be bold yet safe. Such pops may take the form of paintings or drawings, statues, flowers, fruit, pillows or figurines.

If you use red as an accent, keep it flowing throughout the house, suggests Katherine Fern, a UCLA Extension interior design instructor. For example, a red rug or red sofa among light or neutral colors can be uninviting unless additional red pieces are scattered throughout the room. "If you want excitement, use red — and use it in at least three places so the eye moves around," said Fern. "If you have a neutral room with a red sofa, all attention with be on that sofa, whereas an interesting, exciting space will cause you to look around and stay focused on all parts of the room for as long as possible."

Artwork, a throw or a Persian rug may inject just the right amount of red. "You can use any color with red. It just depends on how much," said Fern. "You want one color to dominate and the other to be an accent. If you have two strong colors vying for attention, you have to be careful how much of each you use in your palette."

To know what shades of red and color combinations will work for you, Fern suggests making a scrap file from a variety of magazines. "Do an analysis and find out what you respond favorably to," she said. "It's equally important to save images you hate and analyze why so you don't repeat that in your own home."

Cheery Mealtime: Red in the Kitchen and Dining Room

The use of red in a kitchen promotes appetite, sensuality and creativity, according to Los Angeles-based interior designer Jonona Amor, owner and principal designer at Jonamor Decor.

"There are a number of ways to bring out your inner chef with this stimulating color," said Amor, who has been featured in the Los Angeles Times and Angeleno Interiors magazine for her bold, retro-inspired work. Among the most popular targets for reds, she said, are cabinets and backsplashes. Red pairs well with neutral colors common to kitchens, such as the browns in hardwood floors or a butcher-block table. Red also serves ably as an accent against stainless-steel appliances or granite countertops. Retro-inspired appliances, such as microwaves and mixers, offer easy ways to add flair.

Fern has daringly incorporated red in her own kitchen with a mixture of red carpet tiles. "We bought a condo and did a lot of work on it but wanted to be in the space for a while before deciding what to do with the kitchen," she said. "The kitchen floors were worn and tired and didn't clean properly, so the carpet tiles were a temporary trick." She said it's been easy to keep the inexpensive carpet tiles looking new. "If you get a stain, you can pick one up and wash it," she said. "If it doesn't come out, you can replace it." Because the tiles are removable, they serve as a good way to get the feel of the color in a room before making a much bigger commitment to laying tile or installing carpet.

Seeing red in the dining room makes everything taste better, said Judith Corona, who has taught color theory and application at UCLA for more than 30 years. If you are not sure that upholstering your dining room chairs will work with your motif, try draping the fabric over a chair or two and let the color settle into the room for a week. If your table seats more than four, upholstering all your chairs may be too much; instead, a nice touch could be a red chair placed at each end of the table, with a red vase or flowers as a centerpiece. Amor suggests the dining room is a good place to experiment with color because less time is spent there than, say, the bedroom or family room — meaning you can get away with making bolder choices.