To give rooms life, you may be better off red

Every year, we paint the holidays red. The color seems to be everywhere, not just on Santa’s suit or on Rudolph’s bright nose. This is a Christmas story of how I came to embrace the color red and change my life at the same time.

It was getting close to the Yuletide and the weather in Beverly Hills, Calif., was glorious. As I made my way up the winding path and behind the bushes to the front door of Barbara Woolf’s home, the sky’s brilliant cerulean blue made me thankful to live in such a beautiful place. I wondered what my first visit to this well-known designer’s maisonette would be like.

While I waited for the door to open, I remember smelling the intoxicating scent of the surrounding jasmine and honeysuckle bushes. It was heavenly.

I had known Barbara for some time, chiefly as a business associate. I had gone to her home that day to discuss some of the custom pieces I was designing for one of her clients. She always looked great — movie star great. When the door opened, there she stood, resplendent in an embroidered antique black satin three-quarter-length jacket and matching pants; her curly, shoulder-length Norwegian blond hair glistening in the afternoon light.

I crossed the threshold and was transported in time to what appeared to be an alluring and exotic Russian dacha. The everyday world was gone. I blurted out how stunning it all was — and how red, the most exquisite red I’ve ever seen. I had heard that Barbara was a designer endowed with a brilliant color sense. Here was the living proof.

I learned that for her red was simply a neutral color; until then I’d I never thought of it that way. She made me realize red mixes well with almost any color scheme.

Still, the shade of red needs be well considered. She explained to me that along with black and white, red may well be one of the three basic colors. This is also a theory, I later learned, defined by some anthropologists, too.

Barbara said that as far back as about 4,000 years ago, people in the Orient dabbed red clay on their lips to ward off unwanted spirits. In recent times, she said, some Asian fishermen, believing red to be endowed with special charms, have worn red loincloths to ward off sharks. (Barbara surely believed in red’s magic, too; she wore nothing but red lipstick and nail polish while living in a drop-dead gorgeous background of the color.)

The use of expensive colors (such as red) enforced social positions for many years in Europe, she said. And, in ancient Japan, wearing intensely red clothing signaled high social status at a time when a tiny amount of red dye was worth the entire assets of two ordinary households.

And in China, red signifies good luck and is often used as a wedding color.

So, that holiday season I came to learn of the power and history behind Barbara’s favorite color.

Colors such as red remain critically important in interior design today and can play a vital role in changing the mood of your home. If you’re wondering how to mimic Barbara’s brilliant results without going overboard, you must understand that red is an active and physical color that can go everywhere from cheerful and warm to angry and aggressive, as opposed to passive colors such as blue and green.

It’s only natural, then, for a warm color such as red to stand out more, which gives it the ability to make our heart beat faster. Color psychologists have also come to believe that red can induce appetite, making it a great choice for dining rooms and kitchens. (Naturally, I live with a red dining room and you’ll soon know why.)

But, whether it’s used for energizing a room in a bright shade or to give a warm cozy glow with a softer one, red remains a favorite choice of designers looking to make a bold statement. It’s a color that speaks of drama and passion and not one for the faint of heart.

To be fair, red is one of the most challenging colors in a painting project, and designers often resort to a custom shade (as in Barbara’s home) that is often mixed through trial and error on a job site.

Some helpful hints for working with red:

■ Use it to give a large space more human dimensions as Barbara did in her two-story living room.

■ Black accents to your scheme can help it from being “too much red.” So will adding a pale shade of red for fabrics as well as some gold to the mix — another Barbara Woolf favorite.

■ A red lacquered finish will help give the color more depth and prevent a room from seeming too dark and imposing.

I encourage you to be creative and try red in your home, and not just as Christmastime.

Whether you use it in large or small does, it will go a long way in achieving an exciting, vibrant and glamorous result.

My Christmas story ends with a toast to the woman who shared my life for 27 years and how it all began that holiday season.

I’ll forever associate the wonders of color with Barbara and my love and respect for her as a great lady and talent is eternal just like her beloved red.

Stephen Leon is a licensed interior designer and president of Soleil Design; he has been designing and manufacturing custom furniture and cabinetry for more than 25 years. He is president of the Central California/Nevada Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (World Market Center, Suite A3304) and is a certified professional in green residential design. Questions can be sent to soleildesign@cox.net.