2 Techniques for Matching Paint

When painting a room it's important to match paint colors throughout your house for a consistent look. It's also necessary to match paint if you plan on repainting a room in the same color. This can be quite difficult if you don't remember what paint color you used for the room, or want to repaint a room in a home that was painted by someone else. You don't want to repaint or retouch with a color that doesn't match perfectly. Here's what to do to match paint colors perfectly.

Take a Sample Paint Chip

The first thing you need to do is take a chip of paint off the existing wall. Take a chip that is at least the size of a quarter. Also, make sure it is a clean piece of paint so that you can match the color more accurately. The best method for removing paint is to start at the bottom of the wall and use a razor blade to peel off a strip without tearing the surface of the wall.  

Analyze the Sample

Once you have a sample, take it to a hardware store or home improvement store. Most of these stores sell paint and have a computer that can analyze paint pigments. Most home improvement chains have this technology available to customers. Once the paint has been analyzed, the store will be able to tell you what brand and colors to buy or what paints to mix to match the color exactly.

If you can, go to the store that sold the original paint. If this is not an option, go to a major paint supply or home improvement store and try your luck. The technology has improved over the years, making it much easier to match paint exactly.

Once you've matched the paint perfectly, you can bring it home and touch up your wall, or repaint the entire surface.

Another Option

Matching paint may seem like an arduous task, however, technology has made it quite simple. Although you can try to color match paint on your own by holding sample paint chips to the wall and trying to find a similar or exact match, this is not the most effective method.

You can try it if you have no other choice, but again, you'll probably only find an exact match if you're very lucky. If you think you've found a few similar matches on a paint chip, go to your local home improvement store and purchase a few sample buckets to test the actual paint on the wall against the original color.

After the paint dries, you may be able to find an exact match. If you do, just go back to the store and buy the matching color for painting. Remember, this method is rather difficult because paint goes on a surface and dries a different color from what you see on a paint chip sample. This method is very touch and go, so only use it if you have no other choices.

The best method is to take an actual chip of paint from your wall and have it analyzed by a computer program that is designed to find exact paint matches.