Red Wallpaper: Shades, Styles & How to Make It Yours
The Boldest, Warmest Colour of All
No colour makes a room feel quite as alive as red. It's warm, confident and full of character — a colour that draws people in, sparks conversation and turns a wall into a statement. But red is far more versatile than its reputation suggests. It ranges from a soft, dusky terracotta to a deep, sophisticated claret, from a cheerful pillar-box red to a rich, cocooning burgundy. Used well, red brings a room warmth, drama and a wonderful sense of occasion.
At Claret & Key, red is never a compromise. Because every design is drawn in-house and printed to order in your chosen colour way, you choose the exact red you want — and any of our designs can be made in it. Your shade, your pattern, made especially for you in our Cheshire studio.
A shade for every mood
Red's range is greater than most people realise. A soft coral or terracotta is warm, earthy and gentle. A classic true red is cheerful, bold and timeless. A deep burgundy or claret is rich, grown-up and sophisticated. And a dark, inky oxblood is dramatic and enveloping. Whether you want a warm lift or a deep, cocooning statement, there's a red for it, and we'll print your design in precisely that tone.
The art of pairing red
Red rewards thoughtful pairing. Red and white is crisp, classic and cheerful. Red with warm gold and brass feels rich and celebratory. Red and cream is soft and traditional, and red with deep green is a timeless, characterful combination. Against a red ground, a floral, stripe or heritage design feels warm and full of life.
Where red works
Red suits rooms you want to feel warm and characterful. In a dining room, a deep claret or burgundy feels elegant and full of occasion, especially by candlelight. In a living room or snug, red is cosy and enveloping. In a hallway, it makes a bold, welcoming first impression. And in a cloakroom, a rich red is a wonderful place to be daring. Red's warmth makes it a lovely choice for a cosy, low-light room.
Choosing your red
Because we print to order, the shade is entirely yours — and red reads very differently by daylight and lamplight, so it's worth choosing carefully. Every design comes in three finishes: Traditional (150gsm, super-matte), Heavy-Grade (300gsm) and Removable peel-and-stick (180gsm), all printed on FSC-approved, PVC- and VOC-free paper.
Order a sample and see your red in your own light, morning and evening, before you commit.
Not at all — red is far more versatile than its reputation suggests. A deep claret or burgundy feels rich and sophisticated rather than loud, while a soft terracotta is warm and gentle. Used on the right wall and in the right shade, red brings warmth and character rather than overwhelming a room.
What rooms suit red wallpaper?
Dining rooms feel elegant and full of occasion, living rooms and snugs feel cosy and enveloping, hallways make a bold welcome, and cloakrooms are a wonderful place to be daring. Red's warmth suits any room you want to feel characterful and inviting.
What colours go with red wallpaper?
Red pairs beautifully with crisp white for a classic look, warm gold and brass for richness, soft cream for a traditional feel, and deep green for a timeless combination. Because we print to order, you can tune the exact red to suit your scheme.
Can I get any design in a custom red?
Yes — that's the beauty of printing to order. You choose the exact red you want, from a soft terracotta to a deep claret, and any of our designs can be made in it, made especially for you.
Poor customer service - rolls are only available as one off 10m runs, so if you need 11m.. unfortunately you’ll be paying double for a second roll! Unless your walls are 8m or less, I’d avoid. Wrongly assumed Claret & Key would be slightly more compassionate about the situation and even help with a slightly discounted second roll, considering we only needed 1m. How wrong we were!
Store owner replied:
Hi Emily,
I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the service.
We sell our wallpaper by the roll, and we are unable to manufacture shorter rolls. This will be the same for most manufacturers as 10m rolls are standard, and most rooms require more than 1 roll to complete the job.
Thanks,
Claret & Key
I really loved this paper and thought it would look nice in my attic space. Delighted with the end result. Great service, excellent quality of paper and it really transforms the room. The eves are very low so the space was not utilised so making a feature with the wallpaper has created a cosy space to relax in. Thank you. M
Love this wallpaper. It’s just enough to show a statement but not so loud that it overpowers the space. Being able to pick the color is such a great thing also. You’re not stuck with 5 options so it can match your style and colors of your space. Would recommend to anyone looking for wallpaper. Very happy and my installer said its super easy to install this pattern.
This wallpaper is thick and sturdy. It’s very easy to work with and easy to apply. It was my first time hanging wallpaper and this paper was very forgiving. Great product!
I love how everything turned out and the price point was great. It was a bit challenging to piece together. Being from the USA, it was kind of a challenge to convert all the measurements to figure out how many rolls I needed and then where to cut the rolls to line up the images based on the design repetition. Luckily, I had plenty of wallpaper to work with on the roll.
Absolutely beautiful design and texture. Got the heavy duty wallpaper and put it up without any previous wallpaper experience and it went up very easily and beautifully. Definitely recommend.
Extremely helpful and supportive when I needed advice on measurements, with fast delivery too. The quality of the wallpaper is excellent, and I’m really pleased with the overall service. Highly recommended!
Gorgeous wallpaper, but the measuring option on the website left us short by 1 roll. Had to order another one but when it came the colour match was perfect. Thankfully I wasn’t paying for a decorator, otherwise would have been disappointed in having to pay for them to return. Otherwise great quality wallpaper and design compared to other similar products available.
First purchase from claret and key and truly impressed. Beautiful quality wallpaper. Pretty yet not too fussy. Easy to hang, cut and match. Would work in any room
Good tracking and delivery service too.
Definitely recommend and would reuse for future projects.
Everything went really good. Apart from the quality of the wallpaper which is fantastic, the staff were exemplary in their communications, friendliness and professionalism. They really did go the extra mile to help me.
A great experience all round.
Thank you.
Patrick
Lovely pattern and paper quality.
However, I wish that I had paid more attention to the roll width measurement.
For some strange reason your paper is narrower than a standard roll. This caused me a great deal of problems when papering my lobby, a small area but that made it more difficult because I was left with a narrow space to fill on 3 walls with a very long drop.
Although I love the paper I probably wouldn't use it again just for this reason.
Why you would produce paper not of a standard width is for you to know and me to wonder but it has made my small project very difficult.
Used this paper to make a dark study cosier. Absolutely loved the colour - the background is a perfect match to our existing panelling painted in Farrow and Ball Old White. First time using paste the wall and it was a revelation so easy and much less mess. Quality of the paper is great but noted the rolls are slightly narrower than most wallpapers. Loved the pattern match which meant little waste what we had left we used to recover some old box files which was easy. I thoroughly recommend.
