When you really don't feel it, don't go with it.

I tried a little bit of gold work with red check purl and a dark grey smooth purl wires, but I just didn't care for it, and it was REALLY fiddly. I also wasn't loving the rustic X work in red silk, so I snipped it all out. I now plan to simply outline the rectangular areas in red silk stem stitch. Sometimes simple is better.