1 wall...3 rooms

Got a picture?

The architecture can make color changes difficult. Somtimes the best solution is really to have a single color- if the areas flow together it might look very patchworky to have them each a different color.
That said- it might be possible, and Joe asking for a pic would be good, its hard to say without seeing.

I saw a pic once of a fully open floor plan loft. They cut a straight line down the middle of one long wall and did a blue/white type color contrast. On the light side was the kitchen area and on the darker side was the living room area. It perfectly highlighted the two separate areas and was very dramatic. Sometimes the things you least think would look right look best. It's only paint, we're not tearing out walls, except for Joecaption, take a chance.

joecaption said:

Got a picture?

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I can take a picture but I don't know how to post it....I'll try to figure it out!

That does help.
The arches have hard corners, so that is there it would change. Usually I advise people to decide which is the dominate room (like the hall would be, into a room, and paint the interior of the arch with the dominate area color.
I would say that what looks like kitchen to Living room looks very open, and I would do those the same color so it isn't all broken up. you can change sheens ( might want eggshell in kit- matte in LR for instance- but keep color consistent.
JMO..

Brushjockey said:

That does help.
The arches have hard corners, so that is there it would change. Usually I advise people to decide which is the dominate room (like the hall would be, into a room, and paint the interior of the arch with the dominate area color.
I would say that what looks like kitchen to Living room looks very open, and I would do those the same color so it isn't all broken up. you can change sheens ( might want eggshell in kit- matte in LR for instance- but keep color consistent.
JMO..

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Well thank you very much....that helps a lot! And I never thought of changing the sheen! I bet that really makes an impact when it's right next to each other! So you wouldn't suggest any type of vertical molding to break up the area then? Not that I wanted to do that but I thought it might be the thing to do!

Brushjockey said:

That does help.
The arches have hard corners, so that is there it would change. Usually I advise people to decide which is the dominate room (like the hall would be, into a room, and paint the interior of the arch with the dominate area color.
I would say that what looks like kitchen to Living room looks very open, and I would do those the same color so it isn't all broken up. you can change sheens ( might want eggshell in kit- matte in LR for instance- but keep color consistent.
JMO..

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I also wanted to say that from the pictures it looks like its already different colors but that's just the lighting!

debnvince said:

So you wouldn't suggest any type of vertical molding to break up the area then? Not that I wanted to do that but I thought it might be the thing to do!

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I cant even picture where you would want to do this. In the middle of an arch?
No- making fake dividers looks just like what it is.
The outside corners of the arch is the spot. The only question is which side to change. And like I said, look at the flow- a room is less dominate than a common area like a hall - so bring the hall color through the arch and that corner of the arch is where it changes.

Brushjockey said:

I cant even picture where you would want to do this. In the middle of an arch?
No- making fake dividers looks just like what it is.
The outside corners of the arch is the spot. The only question is which side to change. And like I said, look at the flow- a room is less dominate than a common area like a hall - so bring the hall color through the arch and that corner of the arch is where it changes.

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Thanks again!!!

Deb, I thought you were asking how to avoid painting that long wall that goes down the hall, past the kitchen and into the dining area? I'm not following here, but that doesn't really matter.

jsheridan said:

Deb, I thought you were asking how to avoid painting that long wall that goes down the hall, past the kitchen and into the dining area? I'm not following here, but that doesn't really matter.

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No I want to paint the entire thing but I wanted yellow in the kitchen but not necessarily the hall...I don't know...I'm open to all suggestions!

I see. A good rule of thumb for which color an arch interior gets is what floor is under it. When two floor types meet under an arch, one will dominate and the room over that floor determines the color of the interior arch. However, I see that you have hardwoods throughout. I would suggest, as I think Brushjockey said, the interior arches should get the color of the largest area, which would be the color of the hall. This way the wall in the pic with the clock would be framed by the color of the hall wall, which would highlight that clock wall color. I think the other way would out of rhyme, out of kilter.