Red Candy gets you in the mood for love with a £200 Valentine’s goody bag

I have a massive crush on Red Candy, not least because they produce home accessories with quirk and character but because everything champions red. If you saw my bedroom and kitchen decor you’d know I’m a fan of this vibrant, passionate and uplifting colour and Red Candy know how to work it into their products without making their collections seem OTT.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to ask Andrew Menzies, director of Red Candy, more about this colour of love. His response? To offer one lucky mydeco.om reader a Valentine’s Day goody bag of romantic Red Candy product, worth over £200.

Obviously red is the perfect colour for Valentine’s Day. How will you be getting into the romantic mood?

Oh, definitely a romantic meal for two – red candles, red snapper served with lashings of red wine, and red velvet cupcakes for dessert – you get the idea! A bit of Simply Red on the stereo should finish things off nicely… Or maybe not…

OK, so you’re definitely a fan of red in every aspect of your life! What is so special about this colour?

Red is a highly emotional colour that is used to represent both love and war, or cupid and the devil – what other colours out there conjure strong emotions from contrasting ends of the spectrum? It is such a passionate colour, and that’s why we love it.

3D room designed by mydeco.com community member paiviL

And the colour red doesn’t do anything by halves. Just a splash of red in your kitchen or bathroom will instantly bring warmth and a feeling of confidence to your interior, not to mention the stimulating effect that it has on your energy levels. Bath time will never be the same again.

Dulux’s colour of the year is Firecracker Red. Why do you think red is going to be more popular than ever in 2012?

Well, what with all of the financial doom and gloom in the news, and fewer people than ever moving house, us Brits are at last beginning to really express ourselves in our own homes.

Image credit: Dulux

Exciting décor combined with a flood of bold and bright colours is the order of the day, and you’re not going to find a more exciting, expressive and passionate accent colour than ravishing red. Whereas before we would notice a vibrant red kitchen display in a showroom window, go into the showroom, and walk out with a safe white or cream, we’re now walking in and demanding the red one.

What’s your top tip for accessorising with just one colour?

Start small and inexpensive and work your way up. Unless you’re feeling suitably brave, don’t jump in at the deep end with full-on red sofas for your living room, a brand new set of red cupboards for your kitchen, and four red walls in your dining room.

You can safely test drive your chosen colour with smaller accessories such as cushions, throws and vases in your living room, and bread bins, tea towels and chopping boards in your kitchen. This way you won’t suddenly find that your accent colour is too dominating and intense, and you can add accessories a few at a time until you find the perfect balance for your tastes and your interior.

What would you advise against?

When it comes to interiors there isn’t much that I would advise against. For too many years home makeover programs and interior designers have advised us to be conservative and safe, and always think about the resale value of our homes. I think it’s time for a revolution against this boring advice!

Your interior should be a true reflection of your personality and you should surround yourself with accessories, trinkets, furniture, colour, textures and shapes that you enjoy and make you happy. Be as daring with colour as much as you like; try one accent colour, add a second or a third – heck, these colours don’t even have to complement each other in a scientific sense – if you want some real excitement then make them clash! It’s your interior, it’s your design, so have some fun with it.

3D room designed by mydeco.com community member carolinafer

Do you think it’s important to keep a sense of fun in the home?

Absolutely! I see so many ‘contemporary’ or ‘minimal’ style room settings in magazines and on the TV that have me shuddering with their sterile and clinical precision. Do people actually live in these homes? That’s just not my idea of what a home should be like. I need to feel like I belong in my house, and that means an abundance of character, a wealth of warm colours and materials, and accessories that make me smile when I see or use them.

Touches such as the gloriously characterful Luigi spoon rest from Koziol, or the weird and wonderful wall stickers from Spin Collective, make the time that you spend within your own four walls much more enjoyable. And if you can’t completely relax and enjoy the time you spend at home then you really are missing out on a trick.

Win a Valentine’s Day goody bag from Red Candy

We’re spreading our lovin’ feelin’ for Red Candy with our Valentine’s Day competition, giving you the chance to win a goody bag full of romantic Red Candy delights worth over £200.

You can win everything in this Valentine’s Day Wishlist – the champagne flutes to sip from, fondue set to dip from, two candle holders to set the tone, and much more – by answering a simple question:

Why does Red Candy love red?

• Vermilion Candy didn’t seem as catchy
• Their favourite football team is Arsenal
• Like them, it’s full of passion

Go to the Red Candy Valentine’s Day competition page to enter.