Color: Red Carpet Treatment

So, you bought a house with red carpet (or dark green, blue, purple) and you can't afford to change it right away. Or, you are selling your house and don't want to spend money on changing it. What to do? The answer is simple: Make it look like you mean it--or as I am constantly telling clients, stop fighting it. You aren't going to do yourself any favors by putting in a bunch of other colors to try to disguise it. Bring that color up off the floor and into the rest of the room. Whether it's a bedroom or a living room, get matching throw pillows to bring the color up a couple of feet. Look for artwork that features the color and pull it higher up on to the walls. Keep wall color and window treatments neutral but go for a color that enhances and maybe even tames the carpet. Linen, oatmeal, and warm tans soften red while gentle grays can tone down greens and purples. Stark white can be fun and bold if you want to just go for it and really play up the color you have. Also try to avoid busy patterns that will compete with the color and confuse the eye. If you work with what you have to make it as beautiful as possible, it becomes a feature that other people will love too!

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