How to match existing paint color

It happens all too often: minor renovations or unexpected repair work that requires only part of the drywall to be replaced, or the wall has become dirty or scuffed in some way and needs repair. Become. several coats of paintyou don’t have paint left one’s old jobbut perhaps you still have a record of the color and brand, or take a sample to the store to have the color matched. new paint is just hair Turn off the original shade.

Even slight differences in hue and sheen show up as daylight in decent light, leaving the walls looking mottled and slapdash. This can happen if the wall has faded a bit over the years —Color matching is very useful, but it’s not always 100% accurate.Now the entire wall (and possibly the entire room) should be repainted to give it an even and consistent look.

Or are you? Maybe there is another way. If the can of paint is slightly out of sync with the wall color, you may be able to adjust it. Method is as follows.

Take it to a shop and fine tune it

T.Your dealer may be able to lighten or darken the paint color. All paints start with a white base and pigments are added according to the formula to create the desired color. To create a slightly lighter or darker version of that color, simply add or subtract those pigments slightly. Hmm. I recommend starting with quarts instead of gallons to check before committing. If you’ve already purchased a quart, ask if they can make a tester size for you.

Shade adjustment method yourself

If you can’t go back to the store (Or if they’re simply not interested in bothering with paint formulas for you), you can adjust the paint yourself with a little determination.

If you don’t have a stirrer attachment for your power drill, you should probably choose one.it will mix your paints many Easy and fast, trying to match the paint exactly can lead to a lot of stirring. A large 5-gallon bucket is also useful when working with 1-gallon (or more) paint. If you are trying to tint a small amount of paint, A 1-gallon bucket is probably a better choice.

Here are your steps. Please note that this is not an exact science. Take your time.

1. Buy white or black paint from the same paint family, depending on whether you want to lighten or darken the paint (i.e. interior gloss, eggshells, etc.), so you probably won’t need more than 1 quart. An alternative to black paint is to look at a color chart or paint brand’s paint tip and move down one or two choices to choose a slightly darker shade in the color family. This keeps the “hue” of the same color family. This allows a tighter match, but makes the mixing process more complicated.Rule of thumb: If you need to adjust just by tint, use black. If it’s a few levels darker, try a darker version of the same color.
2. Pour not-so-good paint into a bucket—a whole can.
3. Add a “tint” (lighter or darker) in 5% increments. A gallon is 128 ounces, so 5% of a gallon is 6.4 ounces. Resist the urge to use more to speed up the process. I’m trying to tweak the paint shades a bit, so I want to go slow.
4. Mix well: Fire up that electric drill and go to town.
5. Apply a small amount to the wall and let it dry. Wet paint always looks different than dry paint. Close paint and relax for a while.

If that doesn’t work, repeat the process until you get there.

Note that using black and white paint has limited effect. Lighten or darken one or two shades of paint and you can achieve great success. However, after a few rounds of coloring, it will stray too far from the base color and not look right.

This process can also be used if you’re painting an entire room with a fresh color and you decide you picked the wrong shade and don’t want to waste a few gallons of good paint. Readjust just to please yourself and don’t match an existing paint job.