Ahah! now I see..thank you! Here's what I would do (and have done before)... Make a frame out of a matching piece of jamb molding (the trim around the doors) that completely fills the space above the kitchen door, and put a mirror in it. That will give you the architectural effect of a transom over the door, and provide a clear "DMZ" between the entry color and the LR wall. It will look intentional and more graceful than just a line. It would be even more effective to do the same thing over the other two doors in the entry space as well. Then you also open up the space visually, and throw more light around. I think it would look terrific, for a minimum of effort and money.

this is what happens when you mix 3 shades of white. I'd paint all of the crown the same in order to be consistent. you can try doing just the crown within the kitchen portion, stopping at the narrow walls. see how that looks. try that first and take another pic. what color are the kitchen cabinets? didn't anyone test these colors against one another first? (i'm guessing this is a rhetorical question). just wondering how this happened. are you getting white countertops and a white subway backsplash???

Could you do wood on the staircase? Our guest house has a basement. We used wood look tile on both floors and connected them with a site finished wood staircase. The hardwood guy stained the stair treads to match the wood look tile. The riser and trim were painted white. I don't think anyone has ever noticed they are different materials. I would not want carpet on my staircase.

Well, I did not know that Hardie plank could be used. So that's an option! Or there is a composite. Both mentioned above. In our previous home, we used beaded board 4 x 8 sheets. Did the same on the home before that. One was painted, one was stained. Used 1 x 2's to cover seams. The problem is finding enough of any material!