Burgundy interiors: how to use this colour at home
Of the various shades of red you could employ in an interior, burgundy (or oxblood, or garnet) is one of the most appealing. Its depth and relatively subdued redness are suggestive of opulence and comfort, the ideal shade for rooms lit by flickering candlelight. In the vague world of colour psychology, red in general is thought to stimulate conversation, and has thus often been used for dining rooms, but we've gathered examples from around the House & Garden archive to show how versatile the deeper shades of red can be. We'll see small living rooms entirely enveloped in burgundy for a cocooning effect, along with rich and glossy woodwork in kitchens and bathrooms, and explore the popularity of pink and burgundy as a foolproof colour combination. Scroll down for our favourite design ideas for this most sophisticated of shades.
Paul Massey1/8Burgundy is a classic choice for a dining room, as it looks beautiful after dark in the warmth of candlelight. This example in tech entrepreneur Rose Hulse's Georgian house is painted in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Eating Room Red’, an elegant colour based on the damasks that were popular in 19th-century dining rooms.
Dean Hearne2/8This kitchen in a London penthouse decorated by Nina Litchfield is extremely smart. The cabinets are by deVOL and are painted in their 'Refectory Red' shade, which makes for a crisp combination with Fired Earth's black and white ‘Chequers Court’ tiles.
Chris Tubbs3/8Another view of ‘Murrey Red’, as used by designer and antiques dealer Adam Bray in this room in an east London house, where a light gloss finish helps to bounce the light around.
Michael Sinclair4/8Burgundy also makes a beautiful colour for upholstery, and we love it against a softer, lighter background, such as the pink walls in designer Thea Speke's country house. The Victorian armchairs have been re-covered in Rose Uniacke’s ‘Jumbo’ corduroy, which provides a hint of richness against walls in Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s ‘Jonquil’.
Paul Massey5/8Pink and burgundy appear again in this charming kitchen in a house by Rita Konig, where Plain English units painted in ‘Mash’ and an island in ‘Sauce’ create a modern country-house feel.
Paul Massey6/8If you needed further convincing, here's one more burgundy and pink(ish) room. The children's bathroom in stylist Annabel Bevan's Chelsea townhouse has walls in Little Greene's ‘China Clay Dark’ and cabinets in Farrow & Ball's ‘Preference Red’, which makes for a pleasingly decorated space.
Paul Massey7/8While pink and burgundy is a relatively gentle colour combination, blue and burgundy really has the capacity to pop. In designer Octavia Dickinson's London house, a burgundy baize door leads from the kitchen, where the walls are lined with grasscloth the colour of a summer sky, into the utility room.
Mark Anthony Fox8/8Red may not usually be the colour of bedrooms, but we love the way that designer Charlotte Boundy has picked up on the deep red of her ‘Bengali’ wallpaper from Braquenié with a headboard upholstered in Rose Uniacke’s ‘Cotton Velvet’ in madder.
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