How do I make the color of my interior walls uniform?

Question

I moved into a new home pretty recently. The previous owner left a can of interior wall paint that does not quite match the original color, and this paint has been used on portions of some of the walls. How would I make the wall color uniform again? The neighborhood home improvement store suggested that I take a paint chip from the wall to match the original wall color. Is this the best option? How do I safely remove a paint chip from the wall? My goal is to avoid repainting entire walls, as one of the walls is two stories high, and the walls don't need a total repaint.

Answer 1

What you need to do is bring the can of paint that was left to your paint store so they can match. I've been in this business many yrs and to me there is no such thing as touch up. It's paint wall for wall, look at it this way if you've got 2 coats of paint on the wall and now in one area you put another coat of course it's not going to look the same especially looking down a long wall it's gonna flash on you and no 2 gallon cans of paint are the exact same this is why they tell you to "Box" your paint together. If your looking for a descent looking painted wall you'll have to paint it complete as far as the two story wall get yourself an extension pole and roll up about 12 ft you'll never notice that, you'll loose it in the unlit portion of the wall. good luck and you can do it.

Answer 2

Paint changes colour on the wall in less than a year. To do it so you won't see a difference you will need to paint everything. Having said that, IF you can get away with just doing a couple of walls (yes, you need to do the entire wall to not see the break point) then you can end in the corner or at a point where the doorframes are really close to the ceiling or... You will never see the difference. Just do what you need to but make sure you cover the whole wall that has the need to be touched up.

Answer 3

I believe your home improvement store meant to take a bunch of paint chip samples home with you and determine which one matches your walls. Paint chips are those (free) cards with different colors on them. Grab a bunch that look similar to your wall color and compare them at different times of day as different lighting may make different chips match your walls. Once you've settled on a color, you ask the paint department for that color.

Another step would be to order a small jar ($4 or so at Home Depot) of the color you choose and paint a bit in an inconspicuous area so you can tell if it really matches when its dry.

Good luck.

Answer 4

If you want it to really look nice~start from scratch! Choose a color YOU like, that matches your furniture and things and make it YOUR home now:) Painting isn't bad, and it isn't as time consuming as you might think. You're room will look much, much better with new paint on all of the walls. Sorry, but It's impossible to try and do what you are wanting to do~unless you would do a faux finish over what you have, with other shades of your color...but all of this will be a bigger job than just painting them.
Good Luck!