Christine Schwalm Design

As open floor plans become even more popular, homeowners are faced with the question of how to paint more than one color on the walls.  Very frequently, there is no clear break between, let's say, a living room and a dining room.  Your best bet is to work with an existing architectural element like a doorway to provide a more natural break.  But even if there is a doorway, that leads either down a hall or to another room, it most likely doesn't extend up to the ceiling.  What I do here in the showroom is paint the area directly above the door going all the way to ceiling the same color as the trim.  It provides the necessary visual separation without drawing too much attention.  Keep in mind this works best when the two paint colors are comparable in intensity and/or hue.