‘When you’re feeling blue, think red’, I shared this quote by couturière Pauline Trigère at the beginning of 2020, and six years later, I seem to be circling back to the same idea. Perhaps some colours are less trends and more instincts.

A red room is never neutral. A crimson chair does not quietly disappear into the background. It asks to be seen. And maybe that is precisely why we need it, especially in a season that feels endlessly rainy and grey.

If winter months leave you craving warmth, here are a few objects and spaces that embrace red unapologetically, not as decoration, but as presence.

Hotel Jnane Rumi in Marrakech. David Dumon photography

Grand Tour intaglios via Parvum Opus

Manuel Canovas Celestine Print⁠ on the sofa and Punto Rubis on the cushions.⁠ Sofa by Boura and White.

18th C. Jacob van der Schley Engraving of Nang Hyong Fu in Red Gusto Painted Frame via Casa Gusto

Floors at Leighton House

A detail of Jamie’s Sharp London flat featured in @timesproperty.  The red-painted chest was bought at a flea market in Milan. Milo Jack Paris photography.

Small side table by Joy Thorpe Image by Story Board

Sienna Bloom Woold Runner by Aarohana Home

Harvard Society of Fellows by Azazi Levine

Oliver James Interiors. Photo: @jessicadelaneyphotography

Persian Poppy Fabric by Volga Linen

Young Huh design. Jacob Snavely Photography.

 

On Vreeland Red & Forever Wisdom

Diana Vreeland by Evelyn Hofer, 1981

On a 2025 blog post, I also touched on Diana Vreeland’s take on red. At the end of January, when it was announced that her son, Freck Vreeland, had passed away at 98, I found myself delving deeper into his reflections on Instagram. He wrote actively until the very end, sharing memories of his mother with wit and clarity.

One passage, in particular, stayed with me:

If I had to choose only one piece of advice younger generations can take away from my mother’s legacy, it would be her daring philosophy on beauty and style. She loved highlighting her own and other people’s flaws and faults, making them into a thing of beauty.

‘Make an asset of your faults. If you’re tall, be taller — wear high-heeled shoes. If you have a long neck, be proud of it, don’t try to hunch over. If you have a long nose, hold it up and make it your trademark.’

There is something profoundly red about that philosophy. Red does not minimise.
It does not apologise. It does not shrink.

Flaws are indeed beautiful: in a room, in a face, in a personality. Perhaps the boldest choice we can make, in our interiors and in ourselves, is to make an asset of what sets us apart.

Freck Vreeland at home for Town and Country. As expected, the love for red remained in the family.  James Milloson Photography.