What is with the red dining rooms?

[The Night Owl]

Why has red become such a popular color for dining rooms in houses across the US?

[femmocrat]

1. Don't know, but....

McDonalds used to paint their restaurants red so people would hurry to eat their food and get out to make room for more customers. Or so I heard once.

Don't know what effect red would have on home dining. Although a deep rich red could be very elegant.

[kentauros]

2. I didn't know it had.

But psychologically, red has always been used in restaurants as an appetite enhancer.

Although, according to this site, orange seems to be the appetite enhancer...

[Demoiselle]

6. Yes, I've heard that both red and orange are appetite stimulators.

[bif]

3. We painted ours red years ago

We wanted to paint our downstairs in dramatic colors, and red seemed the obvious choice.

[Orsino]

4. We use red paint to lower resale values...

...if HGTV is to be believed.

[kentauros]

5. HGTV should probably rename themselves to PVTV

"Property Value TV". I don't think they understand the difference between a "home" and an "investment".

I just noticed a house on a nearby main drag that was painted bright orange with purple trim! And my thought was: Cool! They're pissing off the neighbors by lowering property values and being true to their heart for presenting their property as they see fit :D

[supernova]

10. HGTV has gone down hill

with so much emphasis on "resale" value. Doesn't anybody invest emotionally in their homes anymore? Doesn't anybody live with an eye and heart toward creating memories that last a lifetime, or am I just an old fudie dudie?

I can understand sprucing up your house with neutral colors when you have to move, everything they say about potential buyers being able to see their stuff in your space is true, but living with boring hospital colors in the meantime is :thumbsdown:

Yay for red dining rooms!

edit: spelling

[kentauros]

13. Do they still do that stupid McMansion giveaway contest?

You know, where the winner ends up having to sell it because the monthly property taxes and utility bills are more than their income for the previous year? ;)

I seem to recall one of the candy bar contests was to pay off your mortgage, but I have never seen one like it since. Things like that would make more sense and likely be more popular than giving away something no one can afford to keep.

Oh, and you're not a fuddy duddy for thinking this way. We don't "worship" money, so we tend to think in terms of making our house into the home we'll die in ;)

[rebel with a cause]

20. Starting this next week, I believe

or is it tomorrow. Anyway it is coming to a HG channel near you. ;)

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Resale value above all else.

It's a valid point if you're doing idiosyncratic renovations but color selection? Paint is cheap.

What I can't stand are the shows emphasizing "must haves" like master suites with two sinks in the bathroom and a bath for every bedroom. Some of the shows on HGTV are Canadian reruns and it's amazing how different the "must have" list looks for them. One show counsels people on how to cram in basement units to lower the owner's mortgage payments, for example.

[kentauros]

19. Of course, my "must have" list would never see the light of day

on HGTV, just as when I bought my Civic, most Americans didn't have the criteria of low-emissions, high mpg and durability on their "must have" car-buying lists ;)

I guess since Discovery has their Green channel now, you can kind of leave HGTV behind for the yuppie class. However, even some (or much more?) of the Green programming assumes everyone has income levels in the 150k range and above...

[rebel with a cause]

21. "Income Property".....

where they redo the basement apartments.

On the resale shows everything is done in neutral tones but the designer shows have more color. I love when they show "For Rent" and their designer goes in and redoes a rental for a renter. I am not even allowed to paint the walls in the house I have lived four years in much less what they do.

I'm with you when it comes to the 'must haves'. The ones that are beginning to get on my nerves is the International house hunters where the people are buying vacation homes overseas. Granted that many of these people are from Europe and are buying homes in other parts of the world and not just Americans, but when many of them buy a house they expect so much and spend so much. And I especially love when "Designed to sell' or "The Unsellables" do over a million dollar house so it will sell. Good gravy, if you own a million dollar house you should be able to afford someone/designer who would change what needed to be changed and not need it done for free.

Guess who has been watching HGTV for the last month or so during the day. And guess who is getting burned out on HGTV and the spoiled rich people on it. Show me some more of the shows like the Scottish couple who was looking for the modest home.

[kentauros]

23. I'd love to see demographics numbers of the people that watch HGTV

and like most everything it has to offer. I would bet any shows or topics that get into "modest" and small housing are not very popular with them. Efficient homes are likely low on the "must have" lists, too.

[rebel with a cause]

24. Probably not, they like the more extravagant stuff...

I liked the one show that the people wanted everything 'green' when they remodeled their house. Don't know if it was more expensive but I don't think it was. I remember that they got bamboo floors installed because bamboo grows so fast they said it is considered okay with the environmentalist. That was educational for me, but then there was another couple who was "green" and they spent a fortune on their house and was so wasteful that I about busted a gut laughing at their foolishness.

My daughter comes home from work, looks at the screen and tells me that she has seen whatever show is on three times so she knows I have. I agree with her and say that I am just ignoring it because I don't like the people on it. ;)

I am moving on to something new, but am unsure of what that will be. :shrug;

[kentauros]

27. Living with Ed is a pretty good show

though he's pretty wealthy, too. Still, he comes across as more down to earth than his wife does, mainly because she doesn't seem to get the green stuff, or that's my impression from the few I've watched. That show is on Discovery Green if you want to give it a try :)

[rebel with a cause]

28. Thanks, but I don't get that channel.

But if this is Ed Begley Jr., then I use to watch it when it was on another channel. They broke up for a while but I guess they got back together.

[kentauros]

29. Yeah, it's Ed Begley, Jr.

It's probably on DVD or online, too. I don't watch it often enough to know he had marital problems, though I could see that happening from the way their marriage was portrayed. I'd have a hard time in that relationship, too, in his place...

[Catshrink]

25. But, their broadcast of the Rose Parade is awesome

no bullcrap about "watch XXXX on ABC tonight". They talk about the flowers and it's wonderful.

But, the usual crap about flipping and McMansions is way out of my league.

[midnight armadillo]

26. not a beige wall in mine

Granted, the pinkish-taupe color of my office isn't quite what we were going for, but we've got: sage/gray green, bright blue, pink-ish taupe, a light yellow, a beautiful purple, and blue-gray walls in various rooms.

Not a one was painted with a thought to resale values.

[graywarrior]

7. Red adds energy and entices you to eat more

[rug]

8. It complements the ketchup.

[applegrove]

9. Red is a very emotional color. It makes one aggressive and I guess

when you are eating meat it helps???? IMHO. Actually I just ate dinner in a red dinning room and it was really warm and inviting.

[supernova]

11. Had dinner one evening at The Melting Pot

which is a chain of fondue restaurants.

We ate in the main dining room, but they also had small private alcoves off to the side, complete with curtains. I noticed several of those secluded spaces were red or varients of red and IIRC, even purple. I can only imagine how much those denizens ate that night.

:crazy:

[tigereye]

12. very Victorian?

or was that drawing rooms?


Actually I was told that restaurants are often red so that people don't sit there too long...

[valerief]

14. Camouflages the blood stains. nt

edited to correct misspelling

[kentauros]

15. As well as the red wine, tomato sauce and roasted red pepper soup stains.

:P

[sarge43]

17. And strawberry jello. n/t

[kentauros]

18. Okay, I missed that one

mainly because there's no gelatin in this household ;)

Cranberry or pomegranate juice stains wouldn't show up, either :P

[JVS]

22. Lets me slosh my wine around and eat Italian food with gusto