French Commode Lacquered Red From Live Auctioneers

The color red is grand, and is a color everyone considers for their home at one time or another. The color red is a symbol of privilege and wealth. Official seals often use the red, as a gesture of confidence and authority. Red can make a statement in your home in a very powerful way, although it can be hard to execute. We show you 5 ways to pull off this color with success.

5 Ways Of Using Red In Your Home

1. Use Red In The Kitchen Or Entry Way

Red is the color of passion and has been known to stimulate blood pressure and heart rate. Red also sparks passion, love, and enthusiasm, so it is color often used in romantic restaurants. What better place to encourage conversation and hunger, than at the dinner table.

Consider painting your dining room table red. Instead of painting the whole table red, leave the top untouched, in it’s natural wood state. To add a Swedish touch, consider painting the details in gold. In this post, you can see how lovely a red can look in a country provincial style.

2. Use Red In A Pattern on Decoupaged Furniture

There are many ways of decorating with red other than painting your walls. One way of doing this is decoupaging furniture. Decoupaging is rather easy, and you can execute the process a number of ways.

One way is to use cut outs. Simply find an image you like from a magazine or on the Internet, and photocopy it several times over, which you can then cut out, and apply it to a piece of furniture. This Swedish tiled stove would be an excellent example of how lovely a red floral pattern would look on a chest.

You can even take fabric and glue it to a chest, with modge podge glue. Add pattern into your home, or finish off a room based around patterns by decoupaging your furniture.

Inspirational Posts On Decoupaged Furniture

How To Decoupage FurnitureThe Swedish Furniture

Louis XV Style Red Lacquer Side Table From Hastening AntiquesProvincial Furniture

4 Easy Steps To Decoupage Beautiful FurnitureThe White Dresser

Decoupage Is Simple! Update Your Kids FurnitureKids Room Decor

Swedish Interiors: How To Decorate With The Color RedThe Swedish Furniture

3. Use Red In Acessories

-Add a bit of a modern glam using abstract art with bold touches of red. Consider using a heavy ornate frame with a modern poster. Modern Styled Paintings or Posters would add a modern touch in a home with plenty of antiques.

Juju wall hats are a perfect way of adding a bold touch of red in a room. You can purchase these hats in a number of vibrant colors, which can be placed above a dresser, a console table to add in a bold touch of color into your room.

-Below you see the Stockholm apartment in Sweden with the red room. Below it shows a picture of the living room based in white with natural wood furniture. If you want a room based in lighter colors, consider a large area rug in red, like they did. An over-sized floor rug can make a bold impression.

– Another way of adding saturated color into your rooms is to accessorize with red wool blankets. Point blankets can add a rustic touch to your home, and can be thrown over the sofa, or used on the bed, or stacked on a shelf.

– Chairs are a great way of implementing red into a room. Chair frames can be painted red, or upholstered in red fabric.

-If red walls are a bit too risky for you to consider then why not consider red and white bedding? Paint your bed-frame red, with touches of gold, and consider getting a comforter, sheets,a pillowcases all in red. Or paint the frame gold and red, and go with an all white sheeting as you see below.

Tullgarn Upholstered Chair By Nordic Style

Red has been known to be one of the richest colors of all colors available to us, and it just so happens to be one of the main colors in the Swedish decorating style.  The color red is a fantastic choice to use as an accent color, such as in fabric choices, painted furniture, and accessories.

Red can also be used on the walls, and through out a room if it is done right.  The color is rich, vibrant and powerful.  Red can have a very distinctive country flavor, when it is paired with certain fabrics such as the Swedish check fabric, or floral textiles.  It can also present itself to be a courtly aristocratic look simply by pairing it with the right Swedish furniture.

Swedish country ladder back chairs look very country, compared to the square back Louis XVI dining chairs which are more formal in appearance.  Both velvet and raw silk are more stately fabrics which can be used to create a cultured Swedish interior.  Cotton or linen based fabrics work in both a stately interior, as well as a country home scheme.  There isn’t another color with quite the impact that red has.

Here are 5 Ways to Incorporate the Color Red Into Your Swedish Styled Home

1. Consider Using A Red Check Pattern

There are three main patterns which work with every other pattern, and that is the stripe, solid fabrics and the classic check fabric.

Check fabric is almost a must-have element in a Swedish home.  If you plan on decorating around any of these colors, consider adding in a check element of some sort.  Whether you decide to go after a country look, or an upscale courtly look, gingham can be used in either decorating styles.

Pair gingham with a painted chair for a country look.  Look for off white paint colors, or gray toned hues.  Dark gray paint can look terrific against white and red.  For a grand more opulent look, consider gold based furniture that is gold leafed for a regal appearance.

You can add in a couple throw pillows, or base your entire room around one single pattern.

See these posts as examples- Ted and Lillian Williams chateau in France, Jeffrey Bilhuber’s Manhattan Check Wallpapered Apartment, or Clare Fraser’s Swedish Bedroom.

Finding an over-sized check pattern can be difficult, and at times I felt like I have resorted to using tablecloths that are widely available online to upholster with.  Ebay is one of the best places to buy “lot” fabrics at discounts.

Here are some fabrics that caught my eye:

LinenTablecloth’s rectangular tablecloths are durable, and are made of a heavier fabric than most other tablecloths on the market.

DII Flame Red and White Checkers Tablecloth 60 x 84″ Made of 100 percent cotton

This classic red and white check pattern that features flowers is very Swedish looking, except I have had a hard time finding it in 100% cotton than vinyl.

Decorating With Red Check From Country Living Magazine

House Beautiful Magazine Cover