'Tis The Season For Red, Why I Once Hated It, and Martha Stewart

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Dec 05, 2024

Hope you’re doing well and having some fun prepping for the holidays. Over here in Germany, tonight’s the night we stuff our kids’ boots with chocolate and oranges—because St. Nikolaus is coming! As an American navigating all these German Christmas traditions with my son, I have to say... German kids have way more fun at Christmas than we ever did growing up in the States.

Here, the festivities kick off on the first Sunday of December (1. Adventstag) and don’t wind down until the second day of Christmas, December 26th. I mean, can you imagine being a kid here in the '80s? My younger self would’ve been living the dream—chocolate, 3-4 weeks of daily Christmas markets, celebrations, and cozy vibes for nearly a whole month. Goodness.

Okay so before we dive into the color red and how it’s messed with my emotions throughout the years, I need to ask—have you seen the Martha documentary on Netflix? If not, you must. Like, stop everything and watch it now.

At first, I wasn’t interested. I read in the Times that Martha Stewart herself wasn’t thrilled about it, and as a devoted Martha fan, I wasn’t about to watch her be portrayed as some old lady gardening with skeletons in her closet. I mean, really, who needs that energy? But then, my friend Diana gave me the push I didn’t know I needed, and wow—I’m so glad she did.

It. Was. Great.

Sure, they threw in some shade—staff treatment drama, insider trading (which was quite good to be honest - my favorite part), a honeymoon kiss with a stranger (ohlala!). But honestly? None of it damaged her rep. To me, Martha remains an icon. She’s done more for women culturally than almost anyone alive—right up there with Oprah, Serena, and Beyoncé. Martha Stewart is a powerhouse, period.

The documentary reminded me how much I admire her vision, her leadership, and her relentless drive. The part where she had to promote her Weddings book during her divorce? That was iconic. Fans didn’t care about her personal life—they just wanted the damn book. It made me think about how often we overthink how others perceive us, yet Martha kept moving forward like a boss.

She even said a few times that not everyone who follows her wants perfection or will ever make her recipes - especially those perfect cakes. But she isn’t trying to force a lifestyle, she’s selling the dream, the magic, the what if. Isn’t that true? I have so many gorgeous cookbooks that I’ve never made a single recipe from - but they did their job in making me feel hopeful and good - and that someday they are there if I’m ready to try out some Bang Bang Potatoes or Marry Me Chicken.

But here’s the thing that I very much identified with about Martha - She doesn’t like the color red.

She even removes red flowers from her garden. I nearly fell out of my chair. Finally, someone gets it! I’ve never been into red. Christmas? Overloaded with red and was never my fave holiday as a result. Valentine’s Day? Please, spare me, too much red. My first boyfriend gave me red roses, and I cringed and he learned his lesson. When I started dating my now-husband, I gave him one rule: no red roses. Ever. Give me red roses when we divorce, not when we marry.

And yet... funny enough - things have changed.

This past January, I designed a nearly 3,000-square-foot exhibition space for a design trade show in Germany. One of the six “Mood Spaces” I created featured—brace yourself—a deep red palette. Think cranberry-burgundy on the wall, a red chair, a red lamp, red bookcase. [See it here.] I figured, why not challenge myself? Why not use a color that on trend that I happen to hate?

And guess what?

I LOVED IT.

It felt warm, sensual, dramatic, alive. It shocked me because I’ve avoided red for as long as I’ve been designing. How did I suddenly fall in love with it?

Then I remembered something: my very first bedroom design. I was maybe 8 years old, and my parents let me pick everything because we had just relocated from the north to the south - the coast of South Carolina to be exact. I chose white wood furniture with cane and rattan accents and Strawberry Shortcake-themed bedding, complete with a bold red-infused bedspread. My dresser was covered in my collection of Strawberry Shortcake dolls.

The bedding looked like this below, an 80’s dream theme for young girls.

That room was my happy place because the rest of the house - certainly wasn’t.

We’d just relocated and I missed my friends and school, but even more, my parents’ went from happy to miserable. They stayed married but the marriage fell apart completely so the home always felt tense and icy. Those years were tough, and by the time we left for Boston after I finished high school, red wasn’t just a color. It was a trigger—a reminder of sadness and instability. A reminder of my family falling apart and how deeply alone I felt. Not long after we hit Boston, my parents divorced and I never saw, or heard from, my father again.

So yeah, red. I’ve avoided it ever since. Well, until January 2024.

It seems I’ve grown - designing a space with red this year at the trade fair didn’t feel heavy or sad. It felt bold, exciting, even freeing. It was my middle finger flying high to my past. It was a big emotional leap for me to see it on the walls and not cringe. While I still have zero love for pure red in the home, I’ve made peace with deeper tones like red-terracotta, merlot and burgundy in my design work - maybe I’ll even add it to my home this Christmas for the first time.

So, while red will never be my first go-to, I’ve finally found a way to let it back into my life—and it feels surprisingly good. I collected some red rooms for you to enjoy on this Pinterest Board [See it here]. I hope it inspires you. And I’ve selected a few of my favorites from that board to share with you below.