Room Reference: Red Kitchen

The kitchen has lost its passion in interior design as cozy and emotive aesthetics are traded for minimalistic-subtractive design. While minimalism opens spaces up, especially when it comes to color, kitchens deserve more personality; and its beneficial for homeowners to prioritize this mindset. A red kitchen in particular or a kitchen with red accents, fosters vitality, excitement, and devotion combatting the mundane attitude of today’s eating room.

(via “The Complete Book of Home Design”. Mary Gilliatt. 1984)

(via Living with Folk Art: Ethnic Styles from Around the World. 1991)

(via Setting Up Home. 1985)

In “The Complete Book of Home Design” released in 1984, author Mary Gilliat highlighted a kitchen with red seating and red tiles along the circumference of the area. It’s easy to see this area is inviting, but with a subtle note of action. It’s the attitude of being purposeful in each room as opposed to just occupying space.

Today’s home cookery of stoic silver, stiff white, and staunch black lacks the personality of the communal area it’s meant to be. These colors influence an environment of organization, but also foster silence, repetition, and oneness, personalities that don’t belong in the kitchen. Red opens up the space for conversation, sneaking bites as red fuels the appetite, and quick decision which is a benefit, or detriment depending on the cook.

Normally associated with power and love, red takes on a more romantic approach in the room, and as the shortest wavelength on the spectrum, it tucks you into a space. The romance of a red kitchen is in the purposeful direction it guides you in, and the closeness it births, creating a room of utility and comfort. Of course, each kitchen is personal to the cook, but we’re here to point out how a red kitchen benefits the home.

In the book “Living With Folk Art: Ethnic Styles from Around the World”, a red painted wall creates an intimate mood in the room. Beyond all of the clutter in view, the red wall stands out, and reaches out for company with a grounded approach. It’s easy for red to take complete control of a room, but the kitchen works in collaboration with the hue to establish intense familiarity.

Red characterizes the entire kitchen area in the image from “Setting Up Home” released in 1985. Here the red countertops, and curtain will not only make the cook warmer than usual, but will also overstimulate their appetite causing overeating. When designing a red kitchen, stray away from red countertops because they cognitively influence unhealthy eating habits.

Kitchenware in red is less effective, but still influences a connection between the food itself and the person eating it. Red kitchens build the foundation to a creative approach to food, and cooking from intuition and inspiration rather than a strict recipe.

For inquiries about red kitchens, or the color red in the home, contact us here.