Red Living Rooms

February 19, 2016
Red is a powerful color that has the ability to bring a room together and create warmth. Here are a few design ideas to spice up your living room with the many shades of red.
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Warm Up a Room

With an icy blue color on the walls, this living room needed a strong accent color to warm it up. Red-orange hues in the throw pillows, wingback chair, and rug balance the cooler tones and create a cozy, welcoming atmosphere.

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Red in Small Doses

Red doesn¿t need to be the dominant color in a room to get attention. The barn-red lacquered chest and framed quilt fragment above the sofa catch the eye without distracting from the pretty fabrics and soft neutrals in the rest of the space. The key is to find a balance between deep, saturated hues and lighter, more neutral colors.

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Sofa Statement

An orange-red sofa is the perfect piece to give this living room an unexpected pop of color. Adding pillows with bold prints and colors enhances the sofa¿s presence as the focal point of the room. The orange-red color carries into an adjacent room, where it is used on the walls to create a visual connection between spaces.

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Mixing Patterns

Stripes and prints from the same color family work well together. In this living room, the red striped rug and the ornately patterned red chairs complement rather than compete with each other because their colors share a similar weight and value.

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Red Stripes

Red can easily be added to any color scheme. It comes in many different shades and can be used to create an overall feeling of warmth in a room or as a bright accent piece. Here, the red-and-tan striped sofa with pale blue walls gives this room a casual coastal feel.

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Classic Red

A pair of plush red sofas paired with a deep blue chair strikes an elegant, traditional note. Black and white accents complement the two colors and balance the boldness of the red furniture. Tall ceilings and windows and light-color walls help keep the room bright and sunny.

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Cottage Chic

Brick red gingham furniture paired with floral fabric and soft yellow walls give this living room a fresh cottage feel. The primary color palette of reds, yellows, and antique blues suits a casual style and offers a warm counterpoint to the stone floors.

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Pulling it Together

Tie a large space together around the powerful color of red. Placing three oversize sofas around a bold red rug makes this spacious living room feel more intimate. Orange accents in draperies and throw pillows complement the rug¿s deep red shade.

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Geometric Connection

A little pattern goes a long way in a brick red color. The red-and-cream geometric pattern uses a little red in a big way to create the feeling of warmth and togetherness throughout this large living room. The pattern repeats in the accent pillows on the sofa to connect the two furniture pieces and pull the overall room design together.

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New Primary Colors

In this room, pairing the red wall color with turquoise, yellow, and white accents keeps the look light and fresh. Working with shades of primary colors puts a new spin on a classic combination. The result is a modern, casual living room with timeless appeal.

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Red Brick Fireplace

Play off the natural beauty of a brick fireplace by incorporating shades of red into the colors of a living room. The color combination of the fireplace with the white and red bricks makes a perfect palette. Natural wood accents and neutral furnishings let the bold color choices shine.

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Chartreuse and Red

To achieve a fresh look in your living room, try pairing chartreuse and red to get the perfect color palette. The bright chartreuse ottoman and the red pattern in the chairs and draperies work together to create a formal yet feminine look. The red from the chairs repeats in the piping on the ottoman.

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Focal-Point Rug

Bring a living room together around a bold red-print area rug. Keep the rest of the room neutral so the attention stays on the rug. Add small accents in the same hue around the room to tie the look together.

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