The Color You Need Now ... Cranberry

Its American history goes deep as a source of food and even color dye for American Indians and early settlers. It's the ultimate holiday fruit -- warmed and sugared as a sauce at Thanksgiving and strung as a garland to decorate the tree at Christmas. But the color looks great beyond the holiday season, and those who profess to love red but are searching for a version of the color that feels fresh and not clichéd should give cranberry a try -- on more than just the Thanksgiving table or the Christmas tree.

• It's a deep red with enough pink in it to give it real punch and enough gold to keep it from feeling maudlin.

• Red dining rooms are de rigueur in the South, and this shade in particular works well because of its brightness and depth.

• Color a room from head to toe in cranberry, and then use neutrals to keep the room from being overpowering, or bring in a touch of red with accessories to draw the eye around the room.

• Cranberry looks great with other reds -- deeper burgundies and red lacquer -- or try it as a complement to orange or yellow.