The Daring Shade Of Pink Designers Love For Statement Entryways

Even before Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie came out in 2023, the pink associated with nearly everyone's favorite doll —  Pantone 219 c to be exact — was popular. If anything, the Barbie movie reminded home decorators why they love the bold pink color in their entryways so much and inspired them to bring more of it into their abodes. For many people, the hue hearkens back to the zippy and carefree days of youth when going to play Barbies with your three besties was a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

Nostalgia aside, there is another advantage to using this color in your decor. Decorating with Barbie pink is an indication that your home's decorating style has been curated. It gives off an air of careful customization that a lot of other colors don't. Unlike the popular shabby chic decor style, for example, this type of pink doesn't shrink away from being bold. Quite the opposite. If it ain't bold, it ain't Barbie. There's a reason for embracing this boldness, of course. Without knowing it, fans of this distinct color are getting a serious hit of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine when they decorate with Barbie pink. There's even a name for the decorating style that embraces it: dopaminecore. Decorating your entryway with this color serves as a reminder to be bold as Barbie in your approach to life and decorating, and to feel great about it in the process.

A bold color like Barbie pink deserves to be paired with equally interesting hues. Home decorators who just can't get enough of pink — Barbie pink or not — may want to explore varying tones, plus something light, like white. Hues like classic rose, raspberry, and pastel magenta tend to complement this vibrant color. Incidentally, the pink-on-pink striped look gels with another bold decorating trend — stripe drenching. This could manifest as a solid Barbie pink accent wall surrounded by striped wallpapered walls in a softer shade. The big pink hue is still the main event, a decor decision made all the more obvious by putting it in the area's standout position as the accent wall.

However, if pink-on-pink isn't dramatic enough for you, then you may want to choose a dark contrast to offset the relative lightness of the pink. Black, chocolate brown, and forest green come to mind here. For example, a floral print featuring Barbie pink juxtaposed against bold accents, such as a black-and-white tiled floor or dark brown ceiling beams, makes for a dramatic first impression. If you want to tone it down a bit, try something like turquoise or mint green accent pieces set against bold pink walls. This offers you a more subtle decorating alternative in an entryway that largely embraces bold color combos.

For more conservative home decorators, Barbie pink covering every last inch of their entryway walls might be just a tad too much. However, that doesn't mean they can't still feature it strongly in their decorating scheme. They just have to be more strategic about it. For example, instead of painting walls and ceilings with this bold hue, slap down paint on some key features, like the ceiling and the front door. Or, go with the opposite and leave the ceiling and door white, along with the lower half of the walls, which you cover with molding. You'll get the feel-good vibe you crave from decorating with Barbie pink, but in a much more muted way.

Taking this approach also encourages you to bring more of the pink into the space, but in the form of accessories instead of as the primary wall and ceiling colors. These accessories could be items like a DIY'd IKEA shoe storage cabinet that you paint Barbie pink and place in the front hallway as a place to stash shoes and car keys. An umbrella stand decorated with a pink and black checkered pattern is another fun way to bring more of the color into the entryway without overwhelming it. Ditto for window and floor coverings that feature this hue. Still, another interesting choice would be to paint an accent wall Barbie pink and hang a mirror on it. If the adjacent room also features a lot of pink, the colors will reflect in the mirror, making it look as if you've decorated the whole space with it — even if you haven't.