You moved furniture and now there is a hole in the wall. No problem, you know how to fix drywall. But do you know how to match paint colors to cover your patch with paint? Do you need to repaint the whole wall?
Match Wall Paint with a Paint Chip
As you are fixing your wall, you most likely will have to remove some of the painted material. Save it, place the paint chip into a Ziploc bag, and take it with you to the home improvement store. You may have to do some damage to the wall, in order to remove a paint chip big enough to let the professionals at the store create the wall paint you desire. If all else fails, use a scalpel to remove a paint chip.
Ask for a Computer Match
If the professional behind the wall paint counter is an old hand, he might just give you an educated guess on the paint mix. Nine times out of 10 he is correct. That being said, today might be number 10, and you find yourself with a forever dark or light stain on your wall. Insist on having the computer analyze and match the color.
Once the match is achieved, the computer will determine which colors to mix in order to get the closes match of the paint possible. Keep in mind that this is not a foolproof method and there is no guarantee that the match is 100% spot on! You may still be somewhat disappointed with the slight highlight of the paint on your wall.
Match Paint Colors without Chips
If you are trying to match paint colors from memory or no paint chip is available, use an online color visualizer – such as the one from Sherwin Williams – to create the shade you are interested in. It is interesting to note that matching wall paint in this manner helps to also determine visually pleasing complementary color schemes. This comes in handy when you are trying to build your room décor around one paint color.
The Old Fashioned Way: Sample Swatches
Another method of finding paint colors matches is the use of sample swatches. You may pick these up at the home improvement store. There are numerous different shades of various colors, and it helps if you remember the color family to which your paint belongs.
Bring home the swatches, let as much natural daylight into your room as possible, and hold the swatches next to your wall. Does the wall paint match paint stains on the swatch? This is a hit or miss proposition, but it is a better method than merely guessing at a shade.
Remember that a wet wall looks different from a dry one, so do not wash the wall down in an effort to get a better grip of the color, unless you are willing to wait until it is dry before trying to match paint colors. I can tell you from experience that failure to heed this warning results in some unfortunate color combinations on your wall.
Source:
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/pro/paint_colors/paint_color_samples/
