Very cute!
As for the paint- go for it! It's a smallish area, if you don't like it you can easily repaint it.
Don't know about yellow in the kitchen, how about a nice fresh lime green?
Have fun!

Chalkboard paint! No to the yellow: I like the lime green idea too...what other colors and fixtures are in your kitchen?

The light being reflected onto the ceiling from your windows has a lovely blue tint...I would try a shade of blue if you're not against the color. Something along the lines of a Miami inspired blue or even a southwest blue. Can't tell the exact color of your sofa but it has a smoky look to it so something on the greys could be nice as well. Good luck!

I think a blue would look great. I second slate blue or royal blue

I too was thinking of a blue - something light and airy, like the blue-green edge of glass. You want the wall to feel light as it is there more for privacy than anything else. Along those lines, I would hang most of your art on the full walls instead. If that wall is only 6-feet high, a lot of that art is hung pretty low and making the whole room feel like it is sinking down. The standard is to center art around the 5'-5'6" eyeline (i.e. the center of the art falls at this level.) It may sound like hogwash when written down as a "rule", but it really does make a difference in a room.

I agree with home body. The art is weighing that wall down and making the ceiling height feel like it ends at the top of the short wall. I'd also hang the art on a full wall.

That said, I'd be open to a bold slate grey or something along those lines.

I like the idea of lime green or sage green - since it's such a small space painting the partition wall and backsplash of the kitchen the same color (or within a shade or two) might be a good idea to carry the theme.

I was thinking the same thing home body. I would do a light airy sea glass color on the partition wall and a punchy melon green in the kitchen.

My suggestion is - if at all (at all) possible switch your living and bedroom areas.

The window side of the partition is obviously lovely and bright, and the "indoor" side is clearly always going to have subdued light, and feel much more cramped due to having no view. All of which would make the indoor side much more suitable for a sleeping area, and the window side much more suitable for a living area.

Your kitchen area seems to be almost straddling the two sides, and it looks like you could reorientate that cupboard/breakfast ledge so that the seating was at the kitchen side. Then you could use your bedroom furniture or maybe freestanding shelving or even curtains to divide the inside area so that you have space to enter the apartment and walk around the "bedroom" to get to the kitchen and living area.

I'm presuming the window side of the room is significantly smaller, but it may actually feel bigger because it has light and some kind of view. (A large mirror hung perpendicular to the window will make it feel bigger and brighter again). Your seating furniture looks fairly compact, I'm sure you could make it work on the window side.

Re the yellow for the kitchen backsplash, I don't think it will work if your walls are beige or cream as I don't think yellow works with beige or cream. I do think a turquoise would look fab though.

Lots of good suggestions here already, although I'm not a fan of chalkboard paint walls. Please share after photos.

The space seems rather dark, so I'd go for a lighter color than red. If you decide to do the kitchen backsplash, the color could connect to, but be a little different from, the main color. For example, a nice airy blue with a soft blue or yellow green for the backsplash.

I love yellow kitchens (though it can take some trial and error to get the right yellow). Go yellow! And for the wall, paint away. It's small enough to redo if you hate it.

I posted the question, and thanks for the suggestions so far! I like the idea with going with blue - I was thinking about it, but wasn't sure if it was too boring. I look forward to reading more comments.

@home body: The partition wall faces my entryway, and it's the first thing you see when you come into my apartment, so I wanted to make my art a focus. I'm afraid if I move it, it will be lost - my ceilings are over 11' tall.

@idontdobeige: The "bedroom" just fits my bed and a nightstand, so switching is not really an option.

@Christina Marie Interiors: I am looking into getting a pendant. I can snag some antique ones from my grandparents that are just sitting in my parents' garage.

@Dulcibella: I just want to say that one of my favorite things about my apartment is that it's not dark - the windows face south, so it's really bright. I think it's just my older, well-loved camera at work here.

How about an orange? It's warm, a little funkier than red, would look great with lime green in the kitchen.

I wasn't trying to suggest taking down all the art, just spread it out a little more. Maybe keep one or two pieces over the sofa area, and then cluster some of the work over on the left-hand, full wall - so the work sort of works around the corner. I could also see the demi-wall working with one or two horizontal mirrors. Yes, the oldest design trick in the book, but for good reason.

Ack! Not the red accent wall!

I like the all-whiteness of it, personally.

I think it looks great...don't you think by painting the wall it would seem to cubicle? I think you should paint wide horizontal stripes in a mid gray tone. I think it would create some drama but not be too much. It would be funky when you walked in.

Something Trompe L'Oeil:
- Two mirrors that echo the windows: paint (or hang) curtains that match the space behind.
- Do a simple, sketched, enlarged version of one of your art pieces - lay it out on graph paper and fill it in.
- Have a photo enlarged to fill the space.

I agree with everyone who says to move the art to the full wall. It feels too low, and makes the space feel short. I don't think you'll have a problem with it getting lost, as it isn't a huge space, and you can create a nice cluster in the living area that will have a presence greater than the size of the individual pieces. You may not be able to examine the art from the front door, but it will still be a focal point in the living area. Plus, if you paint that wall, it will be a major source of visual drama on its own, and you will need to balance it out. The other wall already feels vacant.

I think red would be nice, and it would play off of some of your artwork, but a Caribbean blue, apple green, or yellow would be good, too. Whatever you choose, keep it bright. You don't want your sofa blending into a charcoal wall.

From the pictures it looks like your whole place is painted cream/magnolia/builders beige...

Personally I would paint everything white before tackling the partition wall - for which i'd choose a charcoal/very dark grey.

the grey would pull all your furnishings together nicely and would also work extremely well with a really bright, cool, yellow for the kitchen splashback.

You have to framed pieces that are next to eachother, the two on the far left. Are the reds in the pictures similar? I think that color would be great for the wall. Either solid or vertical w/white stripes.

Go with a bold color on the partition wall, but only on the living room side. This'll make your bedroom, on the other side, feel like a different space.

The color you choose can to make your space feel warm and bright-Reds, Oranges, Yellows-or cool and relaxing-Blues, Greens, Purples. Be careful, bright yellows are the hardest color for our eye to read and can make people feel uneasy, it's been reported to make old people shake more and babies cry more often.

Pick a color that will make your artwork pop, but also goes good with the paint already on the walls.

Don't worry about painting your kitchen, focus on the accent wall where you will see more color and can enjoy it more.

The partition wall has a lot going on already with all of the artwork. I would go for something less bold, because the artwork has a lot of color and a red wall would compete. Try a light gray, but a gray with depth. Not too light, but not charcoal either. And try hanging some of your artwork closer together.

As for the kitchen backsplash. Definitely not yellow or lime green. What about a teal blue?

Accent walls are a tired decorating cliche.

They make the other walls appear unfinished, and they visually chop a small place up into even smaller spaces.

Either paint the entire place or don't paint at all.

Is it a rental? Because even if your landlords are ok with you painting in there they might only allow lighter, easy to cover shades. That can affect the palette you have to choose from.

Is it a rental? Because even if your landlords are ok with you painting in there they might only allow lighter, easy to cover shades. That can affect the palette you have to choose from.

I wouldn't go with red. My parents moved into a house with a red and tan living room, and it's just not very attractive or modern. (My parents don't even like it).

Gamosa is so right... take the colour of the light that's reflecting off your ceiling into consideration when making your choice. The right colour will be enhanced! I like the idea of pale shades of blue, slate, grey. Tell us how this goes!

Grey or slate would perhaps be too close to the two small stools and the sofa in colour, respectively. Go for a pale grey-blue!

Please, no red accent wall. Those make me cry. I like DeborahMcP's suggestion of pale grey-blue. It will be subtle enough, not compete with the artwork, and still provide some contrast. As for the artwork, I think that wall looks a little smothered - I know you're worried that it will get lost on the high walls, but if you anchor a piece with furniture or a window, I think it will be fine. I'm not saying move all the artwork that's there - I like the little dining area and like the art that's over the table, but maybe one or two of the larger pieces? Just a thought. Make sure you post pics when you're done! I'm excited to see what you choose to do!

If you can't (or don't want to) switch the bedroom and living areas, I think you should keep the color on the living room side of the partition somewhat bright. A red might be too dark and since the area is already shadowed by the partition, you wouldn't want it to feel like a den! I only have one window in my living room and I'm really glad I didn't choose the dove gray because the whole room would have looked drab. Instead I chose a really warm peachy cream color (Behr Lilting Laughter to be exact).

Whatever color you choose, something that accentuates and coordinates the partition would look great in the backsplash. Let's say you did the partition a sky or muted Tiffany blue, a primary yellow might look great in the kitchen! My kitchen is a celery green color and everyone gives me compliments when they see it.

Good luck!

i hate partition walls! i'd install vintage windows or milk plexi to take that thing to the ceiling and still let light through.

1/ Mirror the whole wall. the height would be perfect for checking yourself out before leaving, the space is doubled, your art can hang on the facing wall at a suitable height and it would still be the first thing you see.

2/ wall paper! what a great wall to wall paper.
really great stuff out there. Just paint the adjacent wall the bkgrd of the pattern and that could look really great. check out Jocelyn Warner wallpapers (something with a dark grey bkgrd).

as for the kitchen bksplsh; once the wall is figured out, it may become apparent. i love a dijon yellow with wood floors; really picks up the honey tones and warms the wood.

good luck!

My vote: blue on the partition wall, orange in the kitchen, and keep the partition wall free from artwork.

I say not-quite-Tiffany blue in the kitchen, and black on the partition. you can totally pull off the singular black wall.

If it's your house- I would take that wall down and use a different partition that allows more light in.
Anyway, don't paint it red.
Put some paint in the kitchen, it needs it.
Take down the art from that wall to the other wall. You can put a huge photo all across the wall or an interesting wallpaper with a calm pattern.
I like your furniture arrangement.

I do have to agree with posters to at least move a few pieces of art to the tall blank wall. The art looks so cluttered on the small wall - there has to be a few pieces that you can deal with not having to see the second you walk in.

I do agree the partition blocks off a lot of light like some posters have said, but it would take a substantial amount of money to take it down and replace it. If only it was just a foot or two shorter and the same foot or two could have been made up of trellis, frosted glass, etc - anything that let light through.

Thanks for all the comments.

It's a rental apartment, so the wall stays. The apartment is bright, even with the wall blocking most of the windows. I think blue is the way to go, or a cool pattern if I can find one. I will see about moving some of the art - I will be hanging my bike on the wall to basically to the left of where I took the first picture, so will how it all fits together.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Even though it is an apartment, sorry to say but I would take that wall out because the room seems dark during the day and you are missing all that sunlight coming through the windows.

I would suggest leaving the majority of the partition white. Then, justified to the edge on the open side, block off a set of three vertical stripes in three different sizes (maybe 3", 2 1/4", and 1") and fill those in with three complementary shades of the same hue - three different yellows, three different reds, or three different blues, etc. I might suggest that the three stripes be three different sizes, as well - the innermost being the largest, the middle the smallest, perhaps. I'd choose the darkest hue for the innermost stripe, and then maybe the lighter hue for the middle stripe to keep the mood fresh, modern, and unexpected, rather than just a rainbow in the same hue. It's a low-commitment quick fix that will really brighten up the space!

My vote would be either A.) a large graphic stripe paper or paint job or B.) a patterned paper. A stripe would look good with about a 1-foot pattern with the existing color and a deep charcoal grey or navy. I would provide a bit of visual interest and quirky-ness without overwhelming the space. As far as a patterned paper, Schumacher has some clean, brilliant prints and patterns that aren't too overwhelming. Good luck!

Paint color is a personal choice, however whatever color you decide on, I would use one color on the partition and continue the same color onto the wall of the kitchen (beside the stove and micro). I would then choose a coordinating color on the backsplash as well as above the cabinets. Very nice place! Love the light. Post photos when you are finished.