Dh says it makes him feel like he lives with a serial killer!

Actually I think a tomato soup orangey red would be fabulous! But you do need to consider what your DH likes as well. In our house I have more or less free reign over the decor, but with the proviso we don't have anything my DH doesn't like. My downstairs shower/utility room does have one crimson wall and a crimson shower cubicle - hadn't even considered the whole period thing! It's a glorious colour.

I laughed the other day when I saw a house featured in House & Garden magazine where the kitchen was painted a dark, rich red. The owner said she'd been influenced by Rothko's paintings. I wondered if she knew that when he reluctantly accepted a commission from an exclusive New York restaurant Rothko said he hoped his red paintings would 'put the sons of bitches off their food'. The Tate owns them now.

I had red sparkly surfaces and light wood doors in my kitchen with spotlights in the wood above the floor (bottom
of cupboards - can’t remember what they are called!!) . Loved it. Make a statement you can always paint over if it doesn’t work

Unless it's a large light kitchen I definitely would not have red. It closes the room in. I'd go for a lighter colour and maybe red accessories. But I'm old (78) and not much into dark colours anyway.

Maybe a dark green or a blue would be better. Red can be a bit manic especially if you have a warm kitchen. Or maybe just paint one wall red & the rest in a light neutral colour.

Navy? emerald?

Our kitchen cupboards are all cherry red (inherited when we moved in) as is my bedroom. I hate them! Red has a strong impact on people and I think if you dislike it, it bothers you constantly, so please do mind your curmudgeonly husband this time! That said, I like a jolly colour. The bits of my house I've decorated are largely blue and teal with yellow or magenta accents. Magenta isn't far out of the ballpark if you like red, but I'd argue it's more playful and therefore jolly? It feels sort of joyous to me.

If you get the right shade of red and accessorize with similar colour,soft lighting etc it would give a nice and cozy feeling.
Also olive green would have the same effect.I suppose it's down to preference really.

Can't you do a feature wall in red and the rest in a lighter complementary tone (or even cream)? Just red might seem very oppressive. You could then throw in some red accents too, with utensils or kitchen gadgets. I'd also test a bit of wall first. We've recently had our kitchen done - marble counter tops and up part of the walls, light pistachio units, the floor is dark-ish grey stone laminate. I thought I wanted a pop of colour on the back wall. I tried a load; yellows, oranges; a softer yellow; an olive green. Nothing looked right though. In the end we went for a mid-tone grey (which I thought would be too cold) but it pulled everything together brilliantly. So what I thought I wanted just wasn't right and didn't work. As it's only paint, and can be covered over, I'd get sample pots and whack quite a sizeable amount on the wall to see how you feel with the reality of so much red.

I like yellow kitchens myself. Certainly not red.

@Pippyls67 - that's a lovely comment! Thank you - I'm glad you like it.

It is a tricky colour to paint with, needs a lot of coats, but I am really pleased with the colour. A whole room in it might be a bit much, I've done the one wall and round the corner to include the alcove to the chimney breast (I like to finish on an outer edge if possible for colour changes, rather than at the inside corner where you see the line).

Team DH

Team dh here!!

My old house was a Victorian three storey and I had a red living room and it was lovely. One red feature wall with a red wallpaper with white flowers through it to break it up and rich red curtains. I loved it.

"Deep" cream 🤔?

That's an oxymoron, surely.

No, you need to embrace the dark and have rich colours. Pale colours in a dark house look bleak. I know this from bitter experience.

Commit the murder therefore his opinion no longer matters and paint the walls to hide the evidence 🤔 then go colour match a wine to match the walls

I think a large, airy, high-ceiling room is needed to take a bold red.
It would suck the energy out of me in a small busy room.

Paint it red! I have a red kitchen with black tiles and I love it (I’d have never chosen it myself - the house came with it and it’s great)

Red is known to stimulate the appetite so great for a kitchen. If you love it and are the one that spends most time in there, go for it.
Maybe bing some fairy lights on your beams to give it a boost on dark days and it'll be lovely.

I have a red sitting room. People were horrified when I told them what I was thinking but they love it and 7 years later now I'm thinking of a change are all trying to discourage me from redecorating!

is there anywhere for red highlights - a cupboard/dresser/blinds etc? A deep red can look amazing in small amounts, contrasting with lots of other colours. I love this ochre colour - bold but warm and looks good in homes of all ages and styles.

A dark colour in a dark room isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it needs to be the ‘right’ colour. If you go for white in a small dark room, you can end up with walls that look grey in some lights.

Ha, maybe you should have reminded him coffee comes in more than one shade 😆