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Most darker colors, especially the red-based colors go black in the absence of light, so that's always a good choice.
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It's helpful to remember that a theater in use can have an significant amount of light in it. The screen will illuminate the entire room during bright scenes. Be cautious about the use of red as a dominant color in a front projection theater. How rich the red and where it's used are important. Richly colored room surfaces can contaminate the image being projected if enough light reflects back onto the screen during brighter scenes.
There is a tradition in theater decor that rich red velvets, carpets and velours impart a sense of excitement, luxury, and departure from life's mundane normality. This tradition began in live performance theaters. Such methodology was intended to provide enhanced enticing escapism for the weary masses. An audience inspired with awe and wonder prior to the performance was deemed better prepared for the main attraction. Many of those classic "palace" style theaters were later converted to film exhibition houses. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) didn't mature until decades later.
SMPTE's human factors research over the years has developed standards and practices in theater design for optimum motion picture image and sound performance. What one sees in practice in commercial theaters or photos in home theater magazines may or may not be representative of imaging industry recommended standards and practices. A well-integrated, holistic, system design philosophy will adhere to the SMPTE standards. THX certification was one attempt at providing consulting services and quality assurance to the film exhibition industry. All of THX, Ltd.'s certification programs today are founded upon industry standards and solid engineering theory and practice.
Dominant colors in a home theater should be neutral to nearly neutral. Vivid or rich colors and reflective surfaces should be limited to use as accents and with knowlegable discretion. Conventional interior decorating philosophies can actually diminish home theater system performance when it comes time to use the room for its intended purpose. Home theater viewing environment design is not "business as usual."
Best regards and beautiful pictures,
Alan Brown, President
CinemaQuest, Inc.
ISF, THX, SMPTE, CEDIA
"Advancing the art and science of electronic imaging"