Changing colour halfway down a long wall (with diagram)

[KingscoteStaff]

We have extended our Victorian terraced house into the side return, so we now have an full height open arch from the sitting room into the kitchen both on the staircase side and on the opposite side.

We want to paint the sitting room French Grey and the kitchen School House White, but how do we change colour halfway down the long wall that runs unbroken from the bay window at the front to the french doors at the back?

Can you just have a vertical line up the wall where the 2 colours meet?

Advice very welcome!

Well you could either just do a vertical line, or you could put some sort of wooden bead or strip from floor to ceiling where you want the divide and paint that white. The former might be better with a more modern decor and the latter with a more traditional?

Yes, you can. Do the white first and if possible let it cure for a few days. Use frog tape rather than ordinary masking tape. As an extra insurance policy you can seal the edges with the lighter colour so that if it does bleed at all it isn’t noticeable.

I would then either have a piece of furniture there or hang a large rectangular canvas, mirror or framed picture exactly square on the vertical line to soften it.

Just looked again at the diagram. Is the line right on the steps? Furniture no good if so. Sorry.

I would either end them together like ombre style, or do some sort of brush stroke paint effect. Dont really know how to explain what I mean. I'll see if I can find a picture.

Alternatively as a third idea you could do a colour-blocked shape in a third colour to tie them all together. If you look at the ‘colourblocking’ hashtag on Instagram there are lots of ideas.

What about doing a different colour along that wall altogether which compliments the colour in both rooms?

@Travellingraspberry

What about doing a different colour along that wall altogether which compliments the colour in both rooms?

I really like this idea

I think if you have the steps that’s a good delineator of the space anyway so it’s probably not an issue to change the colour. We change colour in our kitchen diner because the dining end is painted in a colour that looks wrong with the units. It’s a grey green in the dining room and we went to french grey mid (little greene) in the kitchen. For us there was a feature that made sense, but I think you have a level change and a pinch point that mean it will blend nicely.

I have done similar with 2 colours. Rather than change on a wall I took it right up to a corner. So on your diagram, the wall with the bay window, and then the long wall on the left would be grey. The remaining walls you do in the white.