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

[Pippyls67]

I want to paint my kitchen red. Tried a tester pot and Dh says it looks like I’ve committed mass murder and not cleaned up after me. I think it’s jolly. Very old house, quite dark though with low ceilings and exposed beams, stone walls etc. Maybe it could he construed as ‘spooky’. Depends on your take on it I guess. I really want a deep rich colour feature wall. What colour would you go? Should I stick to my guns (excuse the pun) and stay with the red? Edited to say yes to first couple of replies- you’re right, I must consider him too. He’s not prepared to suggest a colour tho as he got free reign on his own study. Just comments unhelpfully. He’s very old tho so he says he’s fully entitled to be curmudgeonly from time to time. So up to me. Maybe on reflection this is why I want a jolly colour. Or Oh my God, stream of consciousness thinking now, am I trying to bait him for mild entertainment???? No - I’m old too - but I’m not that cantankerous. Ahh the fun of being a pair of retirees.

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.

Navy? emerald?

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.

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.

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

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.

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 really like red, and other strong jewel tones. but it really does depend on the room itself, and if he hates it, then it's a no. it's his house too.
why should the only room he has any input on be his study?

Wow that is a very bloody red. I'm afraid I voted YABU because your husband hates it. I'd go with another red, a nice witchy green or dark blue instead but find a way to break it up

the greige trend is so depressing.
and it tends to look like they just went into B&M and filled a trolley with all that stuff.

My kitchen is red and yellow — deep red and ochre like a French bistro — lovely if you light and accessories carefully
PS will be going neutral if and when I want to sell 😂

When we were looking to move house there was a nice bungalow but we were put off by the red decor even in the conservatory windows. It took years to sell and I imagine price dropped accordingly

Our Exec had a red office, it was very oppressive and we all hated it.

my Pa loved red too but we only had it in segments so it was bearable but it’s not my favourite colour so I voted YABU 😳

Presumably you don’t mean to paint it all red and are thinking of teaming it with another colour so the red pops?
www.magicbricks.com/blog/kitchen-design-red-and-white/122910.html

The cop in happy valley has a red kitchen and I really liked it! But you've got to compromise I'm afraid.

I like a bright red, but instead of painting my cupboards or walls, I have bought my small kitchen appliances in bright red.
My favourite one is my red Smeg electric kettle. (I call it my Lister kettle) the rest of my kitchen is black and white.

Green is the in colour, there are some lovely shades

Yup! I look round my house and love it, but do think it's going to take a very particular type of buyer, or an awful lot of neutral painting first, if we ever want to sell 🤣🎨🖌️

Although I do find it odd when people are put off by paint… It is the quickest and easiest thing to change. When we bought our place it was pretty much all light Wedgewood blue type colours, absolutely opposite to what we like which is many creams and red yellow tones, etc. and I knew a lot would have to be changed but because the house is where we wanted to be geographically and it's the right house for what we wanted we went for it - and have been painting ever since!

I have dark red gloss kitchen units with very light walls and a lot of windows, it gets real Marmite reactions as does my bedroom which is also luxurious dark red. It's a great colour if done well, in the wrong place it just hurts your eyes and mind!
Apparently, red was traditionally seen as a colour to encourage appetite so seems fitting in a kitchen.

Surely a kitchen is very much a shared space - and own study would naturally be individual ‘free rein’?

I would want to be on the same page.

Bright red looks awful IME, but depends very much on the space - some darker shades might work well or as an accent colour. Red can be a grounding colour.

I LOVED my red bedroom. it was very OTT and opulent.
I forget the name of it, but it had one of those windows that rises out of the roof, so there was almost a sort of low, cosy nook there. my wooden window frame I painted antique gold, and had things like gold framed ornate mirrors, and lots of black metal candelabra and the like. it was gorgeous.
the red I used was quite raspberry toned, like on a raspberry split ice lolly. made my mouth water when I was painting. I'd happily have that colour in a room again, it's so opulent and cosy.

Sounds horrible, why not a nice green or blue ..

We love bright colours. Our kitchen is mostly black and white but the table in the island unit is made of this https://www.work-tops.com/products/red-sparkle-quartz and the chairs are American diner style sparkly red vinyl to match 😄

I've had mine red before and honestly ylooked amazing. But if DH isn't on board maybe try a dark orange like a reddish orange or terracotta colour.

Have you looked at terracotta? It’s warm and would look lovely in a kitchen