I like the look of a bathroom where the bottom 2/3 of the walls are white tile, and the top 1/3 of the walls is painted a color. I have no tile, so I want to achieve the "look" with paint...paint the bottom part of the wall white, paint the top part a color. The problem...how to separate the two? I don't want a strip of wood like a chair rail..the bathroom is too small. And I don't want a wallpaper border. Although I don't really want a "theme" for the bath, I could go nautical...I was thinking of doing something with signal flags..like maybe stenciling them on the wall like a separating border..or making them out of something and affixing them to the wall so they would have some dimension...anyone have any ideas? I really don't want cute.
The first thought that came to mind was to have the bottom two-thirds a sea blue and the top one third a white colour. Then to separate the two you could draw a slight wave pattern, like this: I fear though that this may too far towards the cutesy angle. Also the white colour is not on the bottom two-thirds. I'm sure you will get further suggestions here soon. Best of luck!
If you decide to make the flags out of something for texture, find heavy rug canvas, cut it to size and paint them. Sealed with clear varnish it will be water and humidity proof, so steamy showers won't affect it. That canvas is normally found at art supply stores, hardware stores or large fabric stores. You can cut pieces for individual flags or cut a long strip of the canvas and paint them one after the other on that. If you go with individual you can make them look less like rectangles of canvas glued to the wall, by making 'frames' around them using narrow half-round molding or narrow lattice strips. For the long strip, cut the 'frame' pieces just short of the height of the strip, then long pieces of the wood along the top and bottom of the canvas strip. You can either glue the frames pieces to the wall or use tiny finishing nails. Be sure to paint the strips before putting them on the wall. Either way, just remember to not paint the flag design all the way to the edge of the canvas piece, you will need some blank space so the frame doesn't hide any of the design. And if you go with the long strip, leave a little bit of separation between the flags too for the smaller frame pieces.
actually, a wavy line, or an irregular line is a good idea. I've been thinking also about some fairly thin glass tiles in rectangular and square shapes but fitted together..sort of like a stacked stone wall in the garden, except this would be stacked glass in a ban d,maybe 2" wide, but placed a bit more random, rather than all lined up like a brick wall...maybe maybe maybe maybe...fraught with indecision...
If you don't want a boarder, then what about blending the two colors together? This way there is no hard line and you don't have to divide the walls in half which can make your room look shorter.
I have had similar situations in houses and I opted for ribbon. You can find it in any color or pattern you want. It comes in two or three inch widths and goes up with wall paper paste. If you change your mind later, just pull it off.
