Entry Way Update

I've been contemplating updating and changing our house decorating "style" for awhile now. I've sketched out ideas, Browsed blogs, Pinterest and magazines. I finally decided to just go for it. I've always loved bold colors but had decorated with more of a calming beach colors decor. I couldn't help it! Have you ever looked through the Coastal Living Color issue? I was inspired. 

Here is the entry way before:

As you can see, I originally added a few pieces to dress it up some but I wasn't completely satisfied.

And now for the NEW AND IMPROVED entry way. At least, I think so. Your opinion is your own of course. 

I had added the Pinterest inspired light quite awhile ago but it just blended into the background since everything was so light. It really stands out now.

The tall background and door were painted Really Red (Valspar) with some random Bistro White (Valspar) lines on it. The remaining walls have also been painted white.

I'm thinking about painting this cabinet black. What do you think? 

New paper for the calendar background. Can't go wrong with glitter paper!

The photos on the upper and lower walls haven't changed but I'm thinking about swapping them out for some black and white prints instead.

 I painted a new painting to better tie in with the new colors. I saw one like it at Hobby Lobby but wanted a different paint style (there's looked like a heavy acrylic or oil). I'm currently loving umbrellas. Despite the rain we get here, I don't really every use one though. Just a sidenote...

 We are in a split-level house so when you enter you can go up or downstairs. The main living areas and bedrooms are upstairs but you can look down at the downstairs hallway. It's not officially part of the entry way but I wanted to update it since it is visible.

This hallway is really quite narrow and has 5 doors. I had tried hanging up a kids artwork display and had planned to rehang it after adding color but both kids vetoed that idea. Apparently there were not a fan of my previous installment.

I used some paint I had on hand to paint the lower half of the wall yellow. Another side-note: When we moved in 12 years ago, that was the color I had painted the entry way. It was ALOT of yellow for that small space. Now you know why I quickly jumped to pastels.

I used a re-positional vinyl wall-covering I found at Target to cover the top half of the wall. It was reasonable easy to apply, although it would have been much easier with a helper. The black line dividing the two sections...it's electrical tape. It was the perfect width, inexpensive and pretty similar to the texture of the wall covering.

The art work was from the entry way prior to the update. I painted those when we moved in. Nothing fancy but it added some color.

Sorry for the oddly angled photos. It's hard to get a good shot of a narrow hall.

I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. It feels so much cleaner and the bright colors give me energy. Now onto the rest of the house!