While you can use any shade of red for a room, the result may not be what you want. Bold reds, similar to saturated yellows, can feel harsh on the eyes, especially in a room with a lot of light. Most people tend to look for a subtle or muted red or a neutral with red undertones when painting an entire room. A few Sherwin-Williams crowd-pleasers include Insightful Rose SW 6023, Nearly Peach SW 6336 and Appleblossom SW 0076.

If you want a saturated red hue without fully committing it to your space, try painting an accent wall in your office or add wall trim for a two-tone effect. Jazz Age Coral SW 0058, Pressed Flower SW 6304 and Rosedust SW 0025 are a few shades of red hues that offer plenty of pigment without being overwhelming. 

Red Tomato SW 6607 and Real Red SW 6868 make excellent accent colors because they provide a pop of energy without overpowering the space, allowing you to create the perfect color palette. Kitchen cabinets are common fixtures to accent. Built-in shelves and mantels can also help you incorporate vivid reds into your space or even experiment with a rich magenta like Cerise SW 6580. You can also play with bold reds in your pantry. Even if you don't like the color, it will be easy to hide.

Struggling to make red work inside your home? Try adding it to your home's exterior. Make it the star of the show or add it to your exterior color palette and use it as an accent color on your shudders or garage doors. Chinese Red SW 0057 is a lush red-brown paint color that gives your home vibrance without making it feel like a barn. On the other end of the spectrum, a soft pink tone like Dishy Coral SW 6598 makes a charming front door statement color.

For all its vibrance, red isn't an opaque color. If you want to paint your walls red, you'll need to apply a primer to achieve the desired color and tone. Even if your walls are white, you'll still need a primer since the white hue could dilute your rich red to pink. Keep your brilliant red brilliant with a gray primer to achieve the expected results.