Blue Entryway Ideas: Why I’m Ready to Move Beyond White and Beige

Today I am sharing blue entryway ideas and why I’m craving more color in my home!

I was reflecting on last year and the house projects we completed, and I feel like one of my favorite projects (we took on a lot haha) was painting our home. If you’re new to my blog, the whole exterior of our home got new paint, we built new window boxes, and oh my goodness, we completely gave our front porch a makeover. But I will say my favorite project was probably our downstairs bathroom remodel. It just turned out so beautiful, guys and it unexpectedly got me thinking about some blue entryway ideas!

I’m telling you, every time I go in there and I look at that gorgeous paint color and the wallpaper, and then I come back out here into my living room, I am craving some of that whimsy and some of that color out here as well. I would love to go to the paint store and get a bunch of samples of blue paint. That beautiful blue green that’s in the bathroom is a color I want to bring into my home more.

I think I want to get a little bit more courageous with color this year. I’m excited to bring you guys along with me and see whatever I come up with. Sometimes I have these ideas and then I get scared and back out. And when it comes to a small space like the bathroom, it’s easy to make bold choices. But out here in the main living areas, I’m a scaredy-cat when it comes to design and decor. I tend to play it safe.

And so I want to be a little bit more bold this year with my design choices and see if I can get away with some more color, some more pattern, some more texture. Some long-term dreams!

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Blue Entryway Ideas: My Current Entryway

When you walk into my home, I have a very neutral entryway. I love neutral colors, and I feel like they are timeless choices. However, my entire home is neutral because of my fear of bold colors, and the first impression of my home may be that it’s lacking color. I get comments all of the time telling me I need to add more color. I get it!

Currently, the entryway of our home is painted white, which is a basic flat white interior paint we purchased from our local hardware store off the shelf. The interior of our front door is the color matched to the previous gray on we had on the outside of our home. All of the trim in the entryway is painted the color Stingray by Benjamin Moore lightened by 50%. I fell in love with this greige cottage paint color and I have used it throughout my home.

I do love my entryway decor, so I’m not looking to change that up. Installing the reclaimed wood beams really added so much character and charm, and my three tiered basket is probably my most requested link (sorry, its a thrift find!) I can always add some color by hanging up a jacket or scarf on my cute little number hooks, and I’ve added a bit of color with some vintage wall art.

Wanting to Add Color to a White Entryway

Even though I can add color via decor elements, I had been wanting to add some color to the walls of our entryway for some time, so I grabbed some paint samples. I chose Boothbay Gray and Brewster Gray by Benjamin Moore. I also had the color display by Magnolia. Honestly, I loved all three of the colors, but I was leaning toward either Boothbay or Brewster Gray.

I actually ended up painting a few little samples behind the sconce. I took the sconce off the wall just to try it. I then painted some larger samples on the wall behind me, lived with them for a while, and waited to see how I liked them.

Blue Entryway Ideas: Initial Paint Sample Thoughts

Initially, I was really loving the Boothbay Gray. That’s the lighter color. I thought Brewster was a little intense for me.

I painted as much of it as I could on the walls, but I still was unsure of which direction I would go in. I had played with the idea of going three-quarters of the way up the wall with the paint and having Mike add some trim, leaving the top white, or just color drenching and doing the whole space this blue gray. I’ll add a few quick mockups I did on my iPhone below to give you an idea of what I had in mind!

I didn’t really know yet. I thought I would just play with it and see. I was loving this pop of color, so I let the Brewster dry and then went to town with the Boothbay Gray.

Rethinking the Paint Direction

After the paint dried, I wasn’t sure that I liked the three-quarters-of-the-way-up look with the beams and everything else happening. It felt a little too busy, so I thought I might want to go all the way up with the color.

I was also considering looking for something a little more muted with more gray, so I decided I was going to go back and grab some more samples. I was hoping that I would really fall in love with this color. I did love it. I just wasn’t one hundred percent on it, so I thought we were going to hold off.

Blue Entryway Ideas: New Paint Samples and Color Matches

I went to the store and got some more samples because I wasn’t crazy about this color. It was a little bit too blue, especially on this door.

I grabbed a color match of Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue, which has a lot more gray in it. I also got the Benjamin Moore color match to Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue, which is Imperial Gray. Then I grabbed a completely different color called Coastal Jetty by Valspar.

Comparing Paint Colors Side by Side

I painted some swatches on the walls to do a comparison. I ended up loving Coastal Jetty the most, but I wondered if it was going to be a little too dark in the rest of the entry. With the other blue on the wall and the white, there was just a lot going on, and I was starting to feel confused, haha.

Blue Entryway Ideas: Living With Coastal Jetty in the Entryway

When I was standing in the entryway, I really loved it. It was this beautiful gray blue.

But when I backed up into the living room or dining room and looked into the entryway, it felt very dark and cavelike. I knew I wasn’t used to having a color in here, but I didn’t know if I wanted it to feel that way.

Standing in the entryway, Coastal Jetty looked beautiful, especially when the sun hit it. But as you backed up into the dining room, it started to feel very dark. My basket almost felt lost in the shadows.

I was trying to decide if I should just do the blue on the trim and leave the walls white, or if I should bring the color into the living room instead. What I thought would be a quick update had turned into a whole ordeal.

Design Dilemmas and Next Steps

If I painted the trim in the living room, it wrapped into the dining room. How do you transition when trim wraps into another space? That was something I was trying to figure out.

Just for fun, I painted Coastal Jetty on a piece of cardboard, and I really loved it on the living room wall and even on the built-ins. It was absolutely stunning there.

The perfectionist in me wanted a finished reveal, but that’s just not how it works for me. This was a process, and it was going to take time.

Thanks for coming along with me. I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments. I’ll see you next time, hopefully with some progress in this space. If you’re new here, I’d love to have you sign up for my free mini homemaking course below for more home decor inspiration!

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