[solent]

I assume the pictures where taken under artificial lighting (probably incandescent light bulbs).

If so then, yes, the white balance setting will make a vast difference to the colour. Indeed , that's why the setting is there in the first place. It looks like your camera has a pretty good auto white balance, but I've learnt to always usea manual setting (and get used to checking it before shooting) which tends to prevent accidents when that camera screws up.

A good exercise is to go to different lighting setups (outdoors, incandescent, flourescent) and take the same shot with each of the cameras white balance settings in turn to see what effect it has on the image.

I notice also, that both shots have a lot of camera shake due to there not beng enough light and the camera selecting a longer exposure. If you want to do more such shots I would highly recommend getting a tripod (and also use the cameras self timer to prevent movement when pressing the shutter) and/or get some more light into the scene, either with more artificial lights or by shooting in daylight. If you go for the daylight options shoot out of direct sunlight. Covering the window with a white sheet or shower curtain will help to diffuse the light and hard direct light getting in.