The obvious association with red and green as a color combo is Christmas, and not in a good way. Perhaps the colors make you think of cheesy dimestore wreaths and bows, or elves in jaunty little costumes. Well, the fact is that red and green are complimentary colors. They appear together all the time in nature—a strawberry, a poppy, a bottlebrush tree—which makes them perfect for spring decorating, not just for holiday cheer. Check out these lovely examples we found...

The key to using red and green without evoking Christmas is to play with the many variations of the two colors, pairing rust with sage, fuschia with lime, and so on. Throwing in colors that lean a bit closer to yellow and blue—oranges, pinks, turquoises—can also help the balance and create an interesting interplay of shades.

Those of you who are working on bringing in color for this week's cure might consider these warm tones together. If you're wary, try just an accent here or there, like a red print pillow on a green sofa, or a wall decal you can easily remove.

Also have a look at Heather's recent post on Red and Green in the Kitchen for more easy ways to make this color combo work.

Photos: Cookie (Sisters Gulassa), Living Etc, Katie Ridder, Cookie, Samantha Martin-Evans