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Thread: How do you perfectly match a paint color?

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    Yeah, I know that's ultimately what I'll have to do because there is no easy way to get it done. I want the color to match what's on the walls right now, so if it's sun faded, then it needs to be sun faded. I was just hoping for a better way, this is really something the paint industry needs to work on.
    The problem with the industry doing this is how different lighting environment can affect the perception of a color. Back in my days in a print shop a color match had to look right under sunlight, fluorescent light, incandescent light and blends of the three sources, we didn't have LED lamps back then.

    One of the problems is each maker of ink or paint uses a different formula and one manufacturer's Kelly Green might not match another's. Same with all the other colors and shades, Kelly Green was just the first to come to mind.

    Cut out a patch, take it in and hope for the best.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
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  2. #17
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    Most paint manufacturers have mobile apps you can download onto your phone. You take a pic in good lighting and it will tell you the match. I've had it work perfectly and then not so much depending on the light.

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    Yeah, I know that's ultimately what I'll have to do because there is no easy way to get it done. I want the color to match what's on the walls right now, so if it's sun faded, then it needs to be sun faded. I was just hoping for a better way, this is really something the paint industry needs to work on.
    Why is it so hard to do what Malcolm and Jim have suggested?
    You can do it in 30 seconds with an xacto or other utility knife and patch it with spackle just as quickly. In my experience Home Depot does a great job matching, and they'll dab a tiny bit on your sample to confirm it in front of you. If the sample is sun faded, then they'll match to that.
    Maybe you can even cut the sample from the exact place where one of the shelves is going and then there's no spackling.
    I find matching the sheen is more difficult than matching the color.
    Edwin
    Last edited by Edwin Santos; 04-21-2018 at 9:40 PM.

  4. #19
    Worst case, paint just the one wall shelves are to be attached to. Paint from corner to corner, just don't get any new paint on the other side of the corner. Look carefully in any room, and due to light angles, the walls will be a slightly different shade.

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    Except I don't have a wall I can drag in there. All of the molding is a different color. All of the fixture covers are a different color. That's why I've been trying to match the color with something they can scan because I can't think of a better way of getting a sample down there.
    When a room is painted generally the wall plates are removed and the painter gets as close to the receptacle or switch as possible with the paint. Remove a wall plate and carefully cut the dry wall paper that is hidden by the wall plate, remove that piece of paper and take it to the paint store.
    Lee Schierer
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  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    The problem with the industry doing this is how different lighting environment can affect the perception of a color. Back in my days in a print shop a color match had to look right under sunlight, fluorescent light, incandescent light and blends of the three sources, we didn't have LED lamps back then.

    One of the problems is each maker of ink or paint uses a different formula and one manufacturer's Kelly Green might not match another's. Same with all the other colors and shades, Kelly Green was just the first to come to mind.

    Cut out a patch, take it in and hope for the best.

    jtk
    That's what I'm going to do. Tomorrow I'll cut a patch and take it by Lowes on the way home on Monday. Thanks.

  7. #22
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    Unless things have changed at Lowes, their method of color matching is all guess work. Home Depot takes any required skill out of the equation.

  8. #23
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    The piece of wall is the best idea. I suspect, though, that given the different angles of the shelf to the wall, it won’t look like a perfect match even if it is the same color. Think about a room with a corner. The different light reflection where the two walls meet will give the impression of two different colors. We did a remodel recently. The remodeled room met the foyer. Where the two walls meet, the foyer is one color swatch away from the remodeled room. Can’t tell a difference at all.

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin Santos View Post
    I find matching the sheen is more difficult than matching the color.
    This is true. Having had two such issues myself lately, matching the sheen seems to be a difficulty for some reason, even if you know what the original sheen was.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Tashiro View Post
    Not clear from the description that the widget outputs anything that the mixing computer at Home Depot can use. The app appears to have a catalog of each brands "standard" colors (probably as RGB values), but that only gets you close if the wall you're trying to match was a custom match in the first place.

    That said, for $50 it might be worth a gamble...could be it's made by the same folks who build HD's scanners.
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  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Tashiro View Post
    Get a set of artist's acrylic paints (and if needed, an artist) and experiment with mixing colors and painting them on thin strips of wood (like paint mixing sticks) till you get a match. Then have that sample scanned at the paint store.
    I did this once when I was trying to get paint to match two colors in a framed print that was too large to schlep to Home Depot.
    It's not as easy as it sounds, but it worked...eventually.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    My wife wants me to put up shelves in the bedroom, but she wants them to be the exact same shade as the walls are..
    Be a home improvement hero. Put up the shelves and then paint the shelves and the bedroom.

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Tashiro View Post
    Be a home improvement hero. Put up the shelves and then paint the shelves and the bedroom.
    Not in that order though:
    Paint the walls before you put the shelves up, because she will want to move one or more of them later.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
    "Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
    We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
    The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
    The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
    You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee Schierer View Post
    When a room is painted generally the wall plates are removed and the painter gets as close to the receptacle or switch as possible with the paint. Remove a wall plate and carefully cut the dry wall paper that is hidden by the wall plate, remove that piece of paper and take it to the paint store.
    The guy at Home Depot said they needed a 1" square of paint for their machine. I usually cut about 1.5" square from behind a door or other inconspicuous location. My success rate is around 50% of getting a great match or just an OK match. Usually the sheen is slightly off.
    Steve

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee DeRaud View Post
    ...because she will want to move one or more of them later.
    "You are cattivo, court composer." -- Emperor Joseph, from Amadeus

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