'It's the color that makes you happy' – here's how a color psychologist thinks you should choose the 'red thread' of your home

Deciding on a color scheme for your home involves many considerations, and ensuring a level of cohesion while each room has its own feel can often be a tricky thing to get right.

Thankfully, there are design theories we can turn to that help make the color selection process easier, not least the red thread theory. If you're unfamiliar with this term, it is essentially all about choosing one design element (such as color) to run from room to room, acting as your 'red thread' that creates a tied-together feel.

Expanding on this clever theory, Tash Bradley, Director of Interior Design and Color Psychologist at Lick recently posted a video to Instagram in which she gives her expertise on choosing a red thread. If you're looking for a simple yet effective way to make your home's color schemes more cohesive, read on.

What is a red thread?

Despite its name, a red thread is not to be confused with decorating with red. Instead, adopting a red thread is a way of ensuring cohesion throughout your home by choosing one design element to continue from room to room. While color is perhaps the most obvious way of doing so, it could also be with a specific material or fabric. Either way, a red thread is a recurring design theme that helps create a cohesive feel.

'You choose your favorite color that you connect to and you use that in different proportions and different tones to connect and create a color story from room to room,' Tash explains in the Instagram video.

Even if each room within your home has a slightly different design style, having a red thread ensures a running theme. And as Tash says, the amounts and versions of your chosen color can vary between rooms to best suit the space. For example, if your red thread color was green, this could be a dark forest green in one room while another channels a lighter sage green.

'The color that I’ve chosen to be my red thread is pink,' Tash continues in the video. 'So in my living room, I’ve got that pink coral sofa, then in the bedroom, on the headboard, I’ve got a lovely pink detailing, and then my bathroom is color-drenched in Pink 04.'

How to choose a red thread for your home

When it comes to choosing the right color to act as your 'red thread', it should come fairly naturally to you. Rather than turning to the latest color trends, go with the color that resonates with you most.

'And if you're wondering which color should be your red thread color, it’s the color that you are most drawn to,' advises Tash. 'It's the color that makes you happy. It’s the color that you will subconsciously be pinning, bringing into your mood boards. When you’re shopping, you’re gravitating towards it. That's the color that you should use as the color that links all of your rooms together.'

If you want to enhance your room color ideas with a sense of cohesiveness, adopting a red thread is a great way to go. While patterns and fabrics can also work, color can be one of the most impactful ways of doing so, and it's also an easy way to give your home a personalized feel.