It's so hard to tell. But my first thought is that it might need to be darkened a little. That would soften the detail. But you don't want to eliminate the detail. Did you rub a glaze into the crevices? Right now I'm thinking the whole wall needs to be glazed over with an aging glaze to mellow it up and make the 3 parts relate. Are you going to kill me now? Is the border textured?

SO MUCH WORK!

We wait for paintergirl.

Personally, I don't care for it at all. The style does not match the informality of the overall wall covering. Chair rail would look much better and eliminate tracking the boarder around your door way.

Is the boarder is wallpaper or wood that you faux painted?

I wouldnâÂÂt make the boarder any lighter than it is. I donâÂÂt think it reads stark.

I don't like it either. It's too wishy washy. Before you tear the border down I'd try getting some gold paint and dabbing a cloth in the paint. Wipe most of the paint off and then rub it over the entire border very gently. See if that doesn't make a difference. What you are doing is highlighting the details that are raised.
I think the real problem however is the top wall treatment. It's suppose to look like marble but with the blue on the bottom it's too light and the white ceiling isn't helping any.

I don't know what to tell you. Did the room get faux painted the color above the border or is that something that has been there a long time already? Are you just trying to keep from having to redo the whole thing or do you like having a border? I think it's just too much in the room and that's why it doesn't look right. Going up and over the doorway looks strange to me. But keep in mind that I like walls painted all one color, don't care for borders (generally speaking...) and don't love faux painting.

I would take it down completely I think?

Red

ON second thought, I'd move the furn back in. I think what bothers me is the part around the sides and top of the doorway. If something is still bothering you after you move the furn back in, that's probably it. Maybe later you can paint a plain, non-raised band of turquoise or white around the door to give the impression of painted casing.

Here is my original thread which explains why I went for a border. The old dated border could not be removed. Removing it would have torn up the drywall. IâÂÂve already been through that in the two rooms in which I already removed wallpaper. No more of that, not in this lifetime.

The faux finish does not go under the boarder, either. So I had no choice but to follow the old border and go where it went.

It is a heavily textured vinyl. There is a base color, then a wash of the dark brown color, which I then rubbed off.

Here is a link that might be useful: why I covered the old border

I am sure I will be bashed for this. Maybe a little crown moulding would make it all look better. Just an opinion, if you don't want to change what you have done already.

I think the blue is just too blue. Use one of the darker browns that you used in the border. Basically use the dark brown or maybe your base color(can't tell what that color is) for the bottom. The color would tie in the bottom with the border so it doesn't seem to float. Right now the blue seems to make the top look really pink. Again, that may just be my monitor.

It seems the blue is a very contemporary color. While the top is an almost neoclassical faux finish and border.

I think it is too light and too umber-ish with not enough red/orange in it to go with the case pieces, at least on my monitor. I would go darker and more saturated.

I also think it might be upside down. The egg and dart is usually toward the bottom or inside.

I would change the blue..it is quite bright

Sorry, I'm not liking the blue bottom. I would repaint the blue a dark brown that ties to the border. Then I would add brown glaze to the marble top to tone it down. Less color overall. more muted and aged.

I don't really know how to manipulate these photo programs well, but here's a poor attempt at a rethink. I couldn't get the shade of bottom brown that I wanted, but maybe this can help create a vision.

And don't worry about matching your wood furniture. it will be fine and shouldn't match.

so the top would not be a brown glaze as I said earlier. It would be a white or cream glaze to take away a lot of the color.

As mentioned above, the upper portion appears too pink and I find the faux marble movement clashes with the design of the border.
When wallpaper can't be removed, I don't hesitate to just paint over it.

If you've got to work with what you have, then I suggest eliminating the border along the top of the door. It just doesn't look right.

Excuse the rough cut and paste, but here is a visual without the border.

{{!gwi}}

I also think it might be upside down

Uh, oh! My instinct was to place it the other way. But I opted to follow some molding on a china cabinet in another room. Well, no one in my family would know if it was.

I hope this is not too blunt, but I don't like the walls above or below the border.

I understand you had to go around the doorway with the border because of the previous border.

The upper part of the wall should be changed as it looks very fake to me. I love faux paint in general, but those colors are out of date trendy (80's-90s). The lower part is not really a fave color of mine, but is less of the problem than the upper part. Maybe if you tone down the top with an ivory shade, it would soften the look. You'll be able to see in wendy's mock up how much better it looks to be less vibrant up top.
If you wanted to still have a look, I could picture a large damask stencil on the top part in the same shade as the bottom (with a light solid color on the wall underneath). It would be a lot of work but would look formal to coordinate with the border and furniture/chandy, plus work with the bottom color better.

Or, just make the whole wall part, top and bottom, something mellower and lighter than is there now and still keep the border you just did.

I have to say I think it's charming. Maybe because I know how hard you worked on it. But it's a different look. Not mainstream, sorta a European flair.
I'd say put your furniture back and take a look with a fresh eye. A few accessories, your carpet, maybe a diff. chandelier and some artwork on the walls will make a huge difference.
Worse comes to worse, you have to move the furniture out to paint again. Would love to see finished pics!

Gosh, I agree it's dating the house to the 80's. I also prefer a faux finish to appear more real. I would remove it a put crown moulding and a chair rail or something more architecturally sound.

If it were my house I would remove the new border and the old border and repair the drywall. Drywall repair isn't that difficult - I learned it out of necessity when taking down wallpaper.

I don't necessarily dislike the border and the color goes well with the furniture, however it doesn't seem to work with the wallpaper that is there.

How about just painting over the wall paper and do the top and bottom in the same color?

Forgot to say, new chandelier is also in tones of brown.

I am really hung up on this now. It was all so much work. Painting that border took ages. Even the solid color on the bottom took two coats of primer and two coats of paint.

The reason for not painting over the top section is complicated. It is not wallpaper, it is paint. One, when I suggested it, I got a horrified chorus of âÂÂNo! How could you?!â The kids have memories of me painting that wall over the years, adding more and more colors as time went by. I would add a new painting or other artwork, then add colors to the wall to tie it in. Even my husband, who has no decorating opinions to speak of, said that wall is a timeline of the 24 years we have spent in this house.

This morning I was even wondering if installing some narrow molding above and below the border would help. Make it look less painted and more architectural. Though that was one of my original ideas, which I discarded as being too much work (!).

The reason for the blue green color on the bottom is there is a narrow pass-though hallway that leads to the kitchen. The kitchen is painted in a color close to that, but more green. Where the two room meet, there has always been an awkward transition in the colors.

I am thinking now about what I can do, and still get it done before Thanksgiving. We donâÂÂt need the DR, it will only be four of us, most likely. But I wanted the room put back together before the kids get home from school. Sigh.

Maybe rolling a thin brown glaze over the blue green to mute it? I think after staring at it for a day since I finished installing the border, that the brightness of the bottom is bothering me most.

There's decorating and there's family and memories. Don't discount your family's objections because of some strangers on a decorating forum. Keep your faux painting, but I wouldn't add the wood molding because that just adds another unnecessary layer and more expense and work. I would, however, find a different color for the bottom; I liked the burnt orange you had there originally, but maybe a cream or ivory?
Dee

You have a huge suite of furniture. The room is going to look very different when you move all the furn back in and get rid of the brass. It may turn out that the blue is a welcome break from and foil for the wood tones. I think you will like it. Moving furniture is less work than painting, anyway.

I am so hung up on this decision. Maybe it's the Big M, but I'm so indecisive lately. I used to know what I liked, and went right to it. I didnâÂÂt have to second guess myself constantly.

I spent so much time planning this, considering all these color and trim options, looking at color swatches in all lights....So now to be almost done, and wonder if I even like it, is kind of a shocker.

It is true, that a great amount of the blue green bottom color will be covered when the large heavy furniture pieces are moved back in. I might have to live with it a while and decide. Poll the kids when they come back for Thanksgiving....then get them to help move the furniture again if they say the bottom needs painting !!!

I think another thing you need to consider is that white baseboard. It doesn't work in there either. Paint it the same color as the border. It might make a bit of difference in how that blue looks on the wall.

You are very brave and creative, both in doing the painting and in being open to not liking it after it is done. That's how the the process of creation, growth and change works, I guess. It's like you grow new eyes. Please update us as it evolves. Happy Thanksgiving!

The baseboard has already been painted a warm light brown: like a hot cocoa color. Not much of it shows in those photos: maybe thatâÂÂs why it looks white. I may glaze that with the same diluted brown as the border. I was waiting to see how it looked after the border was in: to see if it still looked too pale.

Thanks for your support, Jamie and others.

Do you want to keep the wall as it is, or are you open to changing it? What it you preserved a small portion by "framing" it with molding or taking a photo and somehow incorporating it in the room?

I would take a breather, and then consider painting below the trim a brown to coordinate with the new border. I think the upper is well done for what it is, and although it speaks to a different era that is not so distant that we have become fond of it yet, I would keep it as a document of sorts. I think the blue green is what is throwing it off. I understand why you tried it but I think the upper will take on a different character with a subdued lower.

I agree about keeping the upper part if it has meaning for you and your family.
I have some favorite things that may not be the most stylish, but they are mine.
If it has been your tradition to add colors as you go, maybe you can add a light wash here and there to tone it down some but still preserve your history with it.

I also agree that a very light cream, mushroom or ivory color on the lower half would really help a lot.
I pulled a light color from your wall and did the bottom in it to illustrate:{{!gwi}}

Since you have low-ish ceilings, I would compromise by painting above and below the border in the same color. Then I would take the border away from around the door and just repair that little bit of drywall. Having the border go around the door does date your room about 30 years, and pulls the ceiling down almost claustrophobically. A more updated color will show off your furniture to better advantage than the faux marble.

In that perfect universe where time and money are no object (will we ever live there??), I would take down the border, repair the drywall, paint the walls and install crown molding, which would simultaneously update and make your ceilings look higher.

I hate making suggestions that involve more work when you've obviously slaved over this border issue. The day we decided to wallpaper over a room that had just been newly papered the week before is still a dark moment in decorating history in our house!

it speaks to a different era that is not so distant that we have become fond of it yet>

Interesting turn of phrase.