Pretty parlor isn’t it?  Rich, red walls, beautiful red leather sofa and don’t you just love the whimsical cow hide area rug?  Well, there are a few reasons this room shouldn’t be red.

First of all, red is just such a typical choice for a room color. It seems people gravitate to red when they want to make a room really hip and fancy. Yes, red is an exciting color but it’s so much better to choose a color that makes sense in a room than to pick a bold color and hope it works.

Red is a really poor choice for this room because it’s clashing with the sofa. If the sofa was black or brown, it would have been a little better but the two reds are just fighting with each other and totally not working.

The wood also has too much red/orange in it so why add more? Even the little pillow on the wing chair has some type of red but again, it clashes. So what color can we choose to really make this room grab your attention? Blue.

Blue will compliment the orange wood tone in the built-ins. It’ll also make the red sofa be a feature instead of competing with it. I pulled a blue from the stained glass chandelier and it’s the perfect hue for this room.

The red leather now stands out (client is still painting so I don’t have an after shot yet) the bookcases are noticeable and now all the accessories look like that were chosen after the wall color. Everything looks, or will look like, one big happy family in this room so to speak.

When you have a “showy” room, choose a wall color that works with your decor, not against it. Red is certainly a “make a statement color” but if it’s not the right color for that room than it will certainly make the wrong statement.