Monday Inspiration: The Red Thread

This has proved one of the most popular posts this year with many of you taking to instagram to describe your own red threads (rarely are they actually red) so I thought it might be useful to bring it back for anyone who missed it the first time around. 

Some weeks ago I wrote about The Red Thread – used by the Swedish to describe something that follows a theme. The idea of the red thread isn’t new; Theseus followed a red thread given to him by Ariadne to find his way out of the Minotaur’s cave in Greek mythology, and it has been used in various ways ever since. But the following collection of rooms – all from Swedish estate agent Stadshem, illustrate the point perfectly when it is used, as they often do, to show you how to find a common theme in your interior design and, from there, create a cohesive look.

wooden kitchen via stadshem 

I had meant only to show you this rather lovely wooden kitchen with its vintage table but, as is so often the case on this Monday post, one thing led to another – perhaps one red thread led to another – and a whole post was born.

The idea is that you use the concept of the red thread when decorating your own house to link the spaces and bind them together as a whole house or flat rather than just a series of rooms linked by passages. You probably do this automatically – let us all know in the comments below what your particular red thread is.

wooden kitchen and matt black tiles via stadshem

Mine is the burgundy stair runner that flows up the middle of the house linking to pale pink rooms, dark pink cushions, toning shades of green and chocolate that all work together to create the colour palette of this house. My podcasting co-host and friend Sophie Robinson, says that while her hall is cobalt blue and there are splashes of it in all her cushions and vases, it is in fact a dash of yellow that links every room – never on a wall but always in an accessory and once on a door between the blue hall and pink sitting room. Her red thread is, in fact, yellow. Which also underlines her point that you must never decorate a room in isolation but consider the property as a whole.

pale pink walls and black accents via stadshem

And so the wooden kitchen above with its warm wooden cupboards – slightly pink in tone – is echoed in the warm pink walls of the sitting room with the black coffee table and wooden legs of the console table holding the flowers.

dark grey bedroom with ochre accents via stadshem

And look at this apartment (and you can click the links in all the captions for the full house tour) with its dark grey bedroom wall and mustard accessories (this is such a perfect colour combination and a great way to brighten up a dark grey palette).

Then look at the sitting room below which has white walls, but a mustard sofa, and one picture on the wall, which links back to the bedroom which is just glimpsed through the open door.

white room with mustard sofa via stadshem

And while this doesn’t belong to the same house you can see how the idea of the red thread works as this simple yellow industrial lamp in the kitchen would tie the rooms together – especially if seen from somewhere else in the property.

yellow lamp in white kitchen via stadshem 

That same yellow works perfect against the soft blue grey of the walls seen below – made all the bluer I suspect by the row of dark blue denim jeans hanging on the Shaker pegs. If you need storage, haven’t got room or need full wardrobes, then putting these wooden pegs all around the room are a perfect solution – particularly if you have teenagers who might find opening a wardrobe door and extracting a hanger somewhat onerous.

pale grey bedroom with shaker peg storage via stadshem

This is the sitting room belonging to the bedroom above and while the colour palettes are different, you can see through the door, which perfectly frames the picture on the wall, that both the chairs have a sheepskin rug on them thus providing a different red thread.

dark sofa and earth tones via stadshem

And that is the point of this thread; it can be anything you want it to be but it must be there. Actually if you scroll between the two images you will also note that both rooms have black wall lights and that the angular shape of the lights is echoed in the legs of the coffee table. Details maybe but they work whether they are planned or accidental.

I’d love to hear about your red threads – leave them in the comments below.