Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition)

I have seen many posts on this topic but so far no resolution. What I want is for the two buttons on the divider to be visible but the rest of the divider be invisible. Since my page is white I thought I could set the divider background to white and the problem would be solved. However, no matter which way I use to set the divider background, the buttons disappear as well!

I have tried

UIManager.put("SplitPaneDivider.border", BorderFactory.createMatteBorder(5, 5, 5, 5, Color.red));

and I have tried extending the BasicSplitPaneUI class :

public class InvisibleDividerSplitPaneUI extends BasicSplitPaneUI {
	

	public InvisibleDividerSplitPaneUI() {
	   super();
	}

	public BasicSplitPaneDivider createDefaultDivider() {
	   return new InvisibleDivider(this);
	}
	
	


	class InvisibleDivider extends BasicSplitPaneDivider {
		
	public InvisibleDivider(BasicSplitPaneUI basicSplitPaneUI) {
	   	super(basicSplitPaneUI);
		setLayout(new BorderLayout());
		JPanel jPanel = new JPanel();
		//JButton leftButton = createLeftOneTouchButton();
		//JButton rightButton = createRightOneTouchButton();
		//jPanel.add(leftButton);
		//jPanel.add(rightButton);
		jPanel.setBackground(PILFColorThemes.formFieldBackgroundColor);
		jPanel.setBorder(new LineBorder(PILFColorThemes.formFieldBackgroundColor));
		add(jPanel);
		setBorder(new LineBorder(PILFColorThemes.formFieldBackgroundColor));
	}

	public int getDividerSize() {
		return 8;
	}

	}


}

In both cases the divider color is changed but the buttons are gone!  Any one have an idea?!

Thanks so much!