REVEL IN RED

Bring dramatic overtones to your décor with nature's boldest hue. Stylist and interiors expert Sara Bird shares how to make this statement shade work in every room scheme

- SARA BIRD

Red in a decorating scheme is often seen as a bold and brave choice. Associated with passion and power, it can be used to add just a little fizz or to fan the flames of a room's décor.

First made from clay soils, berries, vegetables and even insects, red pigment has featured from ancient times in tapestries, pottery, painting and weaves. The hue is a symbol of luck in China, where brides don the colour. Even today, we roll out a red carpet at important events.

In country homes, red's resonance is often linked to the seasons and natural settings -blazing autumn, vivid sunsets, the breast of a robin...

Today, our homes continue to benefit from red's brave and brilliant impact. But the hue can also be explored in subtler ways to bring a warming, enriching mood to rooms.

WAYS TO USE RED

Drape it or dot it Red tones naturally command attention and can steal the scene, so think carefully about the saturation of colour (full-beam red or a gentler tint) and how much to include in your decorating scheme. Drape a room in all-over red to make an impact, relax a room with red used alongside companion colours, or add it in hotspots to create highlights.

Enclosing red This clever colour can manipulate how we read a room, seeming to bring walls closer and the ceiling lower, making large spaces seem cosier. A period country house with elevated covings or vaulted attics can be made less daunting by painting the ceilings with red, while vacuous barns and enormous conversions can be brought down to size with a coat of this colour.