This week Unique Painting KC is exploring the color red.
Red is classic, beautiful, commanding, and demanding. Red can also be a scary color to those whose eyes are more comfortable with a vanilla palette. When I was first married I remember my husband and I going round and round about what colors to paint the interior of our newly built home. All of the walls were a creamy white; I couldn’t wait to take a paint brush to those walls, and I had grand ideas. My husband was not on board with my vivid opinions. He would have been pleased as cherry punch to leave the walls as they were. One of my favorite daydreams was about painting my living room walls red. I knew my husband wouldn’t cave, so I thought it best to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission.
One day, I used some PTO, and while he was at work, I gave life to my daydream. When he came home that evening, I expected the worst, but to my surprise, he really liked our red walls, and even helped me finish painting them. This was the early 2000’s and we had the whole French Country thing going on: red, yellow, and blue, oh, and lots of toile. Mmm hmmm, it was a sight to behold, but, you know, from that point on he never questioned the colors I chose for our home. Whether he truly trusted my opinion, or knew I was going to do what I wanted anyway, is debatable, but I digress. Red is said to actually quicken the heart rate, giving a physical response, and can pony up feelings of love, danger, excitement, and strength. I’m certain I had most if not all of these feelings while hanging out in that living room, and I’m also certain I wouldn’t have if it had remained safe, creamy, vanilla, white. In honor of this experience, my color of the week is Real Red SW6868, by Sherwin Williams, the exact color I painted that living room. Times have changed and my taste has moved on past the toile, French Country business. Now, my favorite ways to use red is on a front door for sure, and as an accent, either painted on furniture or in decor. So, if you’re having visions of red walls, just follow your heart. Red isn’t just for Valentine’s Day, ya’ll, it’s year round. Tell me how does red make you feel?
