The 'red thread' is the design trick I used to plan all the colour schemes in my new home – it puts an end to paint indecision

Despite working in interiors, I have chronic indecision when it comes to choosing a decor scheme for myself. Or maybe it's because I work in interiors, looking at stunning homes day in and day out, that I find myself dithering over trending paint shades. But I've recently discovered a method called the 'red thread' theory and it's made choosing colour combinations so much easier.

I discovered the red thread theory when I was in a sea of paint swatches trying to choose a living room colour scheme and a bedroom colour scheme. I was fighting every urge in me to give in and just paint the walls white, until I saw an Instagram video from Tash Bradley, the director of Interior design at Lick Paint, explaining how to find your red thread colour.

This is a colour that you feel some connection to that you then use as the starting point for all the colour schemes in your home and will weave throughout your space. Honestly, it makes the whole process of choosing paint colours so much easier!

What is red thread theory?

Essentially, the red thread theory is a principle which interior designers use to connect each room in a home together. This can be done with a colour, pattern or even a material.

'The easiest way to adhere to the red thread theory is with colour,' explains Ruth Mottershead, creative director at Little Greene. 'Both single colours or a colour combinations can be used to add visual continuity to your scheme.'

You then weave this colour into each room in your home. 'That doesn’t mean painting every wall in your home the same colour,' points out Ruth. 'A far more subtle approach works best, with the colour being introduced into every space, but in different ways.'

So, if my red thread was green, I would weave this into the living room with a green sofa, then have a pistachio green wall in the bedroom, before moving into the kitchen with forest green cabinets. Green wouldn't always be the dominant shade, but it would be present in some form in every room throughout the house.

Tash from Lick points out that once you settle on a red thread it makes colour choices much easier. 'You will naturally have that link to each room that feels connected into one house, rather than one room, one colour, another room, another colour, and everything feels a bit disjointed.'

'It's a nice, easy way for someone to think "I just need to make sure I pick something in this colour family, and then I'm good".'

How to choose your red thread colour

So how do you choose your red thread colour? Tash Bradley from Lick points out that this is where a lot of people can get lost, but she has some handy tricks to help you identify your red thread.

She explains that when she has a client, before they start discussing colour schemes, she'll ask: what is your favourite colour? If the client isn't sure, Tash will look around the home with them to unpick the colour they're subconsciously drawn too.

'We go into the wardrobe and we have a look,' explains Tash. 'She'll show me her home, and I'll be able to see what it is because she's subconsciously picked a color that she loves.'

For me, that colour (as I mentioned above) is green; it's the colour my partner and I are always drawn too when buying anything for our home. It is usually an effort for us not to buy something green, so it was a given that this would be the base for most of the rooms in our home.

Can you have more than one red thread colour?

According to both Ruth and Tash, yes, you can have a colour combination as your red thread. 'If you gravitate towards two colours, then take those two colours into every room in different proportions,' says Tash.

She uses the example of a red and green colour combo in a house and paints a picture of varying the tone and amount of each colour in each room. You can start with a green living room with a coral red sofa, moving to a hallway runner with a red and green pattern, which leads to a bedroom painted an earthy terracotta red with pops of green accessories.

However, while two colours can work well, Tash adds that she wouldn't go to three.

When choosing how to use your red thread colour or combination in a space, Ruth points out that in some cases, you only need a small paint idea or accessory to pick out the colour.

'Think about the various surfaces and textures and how the colour will make you feel in each space,' she explains.

'This will determine how much or how little of the colour you will include. A single painted door, a window frame, skirting, or a piece of painted furniture will can bring bolder hues into a space without feeling overwhelming.'

More advice on choosing colours

Since discovering this tip, I can't say it's put a complete end to my chronic indecision (there are a lot of on-trend shades of green and colours that go with green out there), but it has made putting together a colour scheme so much easier.

Do you know what the red thread in your home is?