So what makes me think this will be a trend? This room from February's House Beautiful:
It's almost shocking because it's NOT patriotic or nautical or designed for kids. It's just a really lovely, grown-up room.
The traditional pairing for blue is yellow
The current darling is orange
And then pink is always bright and fun
But red? It's different and daring BECAUSE it's usually just used for patriotic or nautical themes. This room makes you realize that of course it's the perfect accent color because red and blue are natural partners.
I love blue. It's pretty, it's soothing, it's almost universally liked. In my office, we ask new employees 5 questions - what's your favorite color, favorite book and/or movie, birth order, where were you born and what were you doing before you came to our company. I've been there for 11 years now and it's always a surprise when someone picks a color other than blue. Blue is just an easy color to love.
Red is harder to love. It's such an active color. It's the color of anger and of passion. It's bold and fearless and calls attention to itself. It's incredibly fun and fabulous, but it takes a strong personality to pull it off in large doses.
And that's what makes it the perfect antidote to blue. Wearing blue makes people like you while wearing red makes people respect you. Blue is calming, red is energizing. Putting the two together creates balance.
Look at Diana Vreeland's room again. Do you see it? I'm pretty darn sure the leaves are blue (don't tell me if I'm wrong!). Just a subtle touch that helps make all of that red easier to handle. The white does the same thing. Both cool off the fiery red and make it playful and fun. Wouldn't you want to go to a party in Diana's apartment?
And wouldn't you just love to sleep in this bedroom?
And then this living room is loved across the blogosphere, but it so wouldn't be as much fun if the red wasn't red or the blue wasn't blue.
Red, white and blue - not just for holidays anymore.
Do you agree?
