Spring Entry: Adding Touches of Color

A few years ago, I decided, happily, to remove bright and bold colors from most rooms in my house - with exception to the boys rooms.  This winter I finally reached a happy place in line with my vision of many layered neutrals. 

....and then - once again, I felt a shift.....I noticed that I was pinning, to Pinterest, rooms with splashes of bold colors again and again.  I'm still drawn to very neutral rooms, but I thought maybe I could reach a happy medium. 

So, I decided to add some bold color into my life.  Luckily, with the neutral wall colors and furnishings we have, it wasn't too hard to follow my whim and add touches of color.  So, for this spring, I've decided to add some splashes of color into our home through accessories and plants.

I started with our entryway.

In case you did not see pictures from our entry styled for winter here, or if you need a refresh, here is what it looked like a few weeks ago:

...and here it is now:

 I really did like the entry styled for winter, but it never felt 100% like me.  While I like a rustic touch, it was just a little more rustic than I'm used to.  Here is one more before and after:

When I'm re-styling an area of our house, it typically doesn't happen overnight.  This entry, from concept to completion, took me about one week to get just right.  I knew that I wanted to include several elements that I've seen on Pinterest and at other blogs (you can see more on my inspiration here and my Pinterest "love the styling" board here), including high contrast black and white, touches of gold, and lots of color. 

For the black and white elements, I used a $3 scarf from Walmart, the Cast Metal Letter R which I purchased from Restoration Hardware on clearance, a black and white frame, and a black potting Bigarra planter from Ikea:

The touches of gold came from the frame of this $3 Goodwill ocean painting.  I used Antique Gold Rub and Buff on the frame of the picture as well as the hardware of our sideboard, which now looks so much better:

The color came from the ocean print, this $5 Ikea Lappljung red and purple pillow case used inside the black and white frame, an outdoor Pottery Barn pillow I already owned, and the orchids that I bought for myself from Trader Joe's on Valentine's Day!!  (My husband already treated me to a nice surprise getaway which I shared here, so I told him not to worry, that I would purchase myself some Valentine's flower while grocery shopping!)  I knew I wanted something that lasted longer than fresh cut stems and this space is a perfect environment for orchids. 

Finally, I added these white fluffy faux sheepskin rugs for a little texture.  While this isn't exactly practical for a high traffic entry area, we rarely use this front entry, so it works for us:

Here is the space one last time...I know, lots of pictures but I'm loving the new space so I had a lot of pictures to share!

 

What do you think?  Which entry do you prefer, the rustic neutral winter entry, or the fun colorful spring entry?

See more of our home tour here:

Linking to:
The Sunday Showcase Party / It's Overflowing / Coastal Charm / Home Stories A to Z / My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia / Savy Southern Style / DIY by Design  / Creative Spark / Green Willow Pond / No Minimalist Here / Stone Gable / Young House Love / The Inspiration Gallery / Liz Marie Blog / Between Naps on the Porch / Flaunt it Friday / Domestically Speaking / Thrifty Decor Chick