If you are looking to update your home with a shade of red color, the trio of maroon, burgundy, and crimson are great options. This article will discuss these colors with a side-by-side comparison helping you choose the right one for you.
Maroon vs Burgundy vs Crimson Paint Colors
Maroon, burgundy, and crimson are all based on the color red. Red was the color of royalty and was commonly used by those higher up in the religious life in European history.
Historically, red as the color of blood is also the color of martyrdom. In other cultures, red was known as a lucky color; Chinese brides traditionally wore red gowns.
The three colors considered below start with red and blend in nearly equal parts blue and green to both deepen the color and mute the sharp edge or sense of agitation that red can create.
Red is an eye and attention-catching color; there’s a reason that stop signs are red and not something easier on the eye.
If you want to decorate your home with red, a move toward one of the more muted shades is probably a good idea.
Maroon
When shopping for colors named “maroon” it’s a good idea carefully review the RGB code. For a true maroon, you want the Green and Blue codes to be within 20 points of each other.
If that last number is too high, you will start to drift toward shades of purple. Purple is a lovely color, but it’s not burgundy.
If you are mixing on a palette, such as with acrylic paints, start with a decent dollop of red and mix in a bit of blue.
This will trend toward purple, so make sure you add some green to add a bit of smokiness. The extra bump of green acrylic blended in will mute the intensity of any red tone.
If you try to tone it down with black, remember that the black may be either yellow or blue-based. A blue-based black mixed into a burgundy blend that you want to tone down will make it more purple.
To properly add a touch of smokiness to maroon, start with green before you add any darker tints.
To decorate with maroon, be careful using anything based on blue. Remember, when there is more blue than green in any mix, using blue fabrics, pillows, drapes or furniture elsewhere in the room will make the blue in the maroon pop.
If you draw out the blue, you may trend toward purple again.
Maroon color codes
Hex Code: #862633
RGB Code: R 134, G 38, B 51
Burgundy
Like maroon, burgundy is a combination of red as a base and blue to add richness with green to tone it down. However, the ratio of red to blue is nearly 4 to 1 when blending burgundy.
Additionally, blue and green are equal when mixing a true burgundy.
Burgundy was once considered a color of luxury. This is a very stable but extremely intense color.
While it may be overpowering in a family room or a bedroom, burgundy is a great choice in an office. If your access to natural light is not great in your office space, consider adding a burgundy accent wall to see how it works in the light available in your home.
To decorate with burgundy, be brave! One of the challenges of working with burgundy is choosing other colors to use in the space.
A wonderful addition to a space decorated in burgundy is anything in shades of olive or sage green. These muted greens will look terrific against a lush burgundy wall painted for a velvet finish.
Make sure to add mirrors to increase light around the space and don’t be afraid of light-toned woods. A pale maple table will also complement burgundy in your decor.
Burgundy color codes:
Hex Code: #773141
RGB Code: R 63, G 16, B 16
Crimson
Crimson is the strongest, richest red in this listing. This is the color of power and is an eye-catching shade. This can be a terrific accent color and could offer a hearty contrast to another deep or strong color.
For example, you may have a living room or family room with a richly textured deep green furniture set.
Crimson, in small doses, could be an excellent color for your pillows or throws.
When considering a pairing of red and green, you may want to avoid it because of the holiday themes associated with it.
If red and green sound too much like Christmas for your taste, consider pairing your favorite crimson items with a deep steel grey.
If you are interested in decorating with crimson, take it slow and build up your stock of decorative items as you get used to the intensity of the color.
It’s important to remember that crimson is not just red. A pure RBG red has no blue or green in it and is nearly fluorescent in tone.
The RGB code listed below for crimson demonstrates that crimson is actually quite complex. The additional tones of blue and green are nearly equal, which will both enrich the red and tone it down a bit when compared to pure red.
Crimson color codes
Hex Code: #9D2235
RBG Code: R 157, G 34, B 53
Corresponding Colors
Grey, green and white will all go well with the colors listed above. For example, a burgundy wall with white trim will look clean and sharp.
A grey carpet can pair beautifully with a maroon sofa or side chair. Finally, crimson can work wonderfully with a rich moss or camo green.
That being said, you really want to keep an eye on the amount of yellow blended into these corresponding colors.
Too much yellow in a tan or green will muddy up your reds. Your accent wall will look wonderful above a grey carpet that has a bit of blue in it, but if the carpet has too much tan or other warm tones blended in, you may have a wonderful-looking wall over carpet that looks dirty no matter what you do.
Test drive your wall color in small swatches and study how these colors change over the course of the day so you can be happy with your choice all day long.
