The biggest tip when color matching paint

The biggest tip when color matching paint so you won’t make a timely and costly mistake…. as I did.

The biggest tip when color matching paint

Over the last month, I have been refreshing the Living Room walls getting ready for new furniture to arrive in a few weeks. It’s been quite a while since I have had furniture in this space. Honestly, it’s not a room we used often but it was the first room you walked into coming into my home. Years ago I sold the furniture I had and was just waiting till I figured out the space… it’s now time.

Where is all the flat paint?

Last Spring I painted the downstairs den area in a color called Light French Gray from Sherwin Williams. I liked the color enough that I decided to bring it up the stairs and on a few of the walls in the room. Using  left over paint to start the job, I ran out with 1/2 of the project remaining. I called no less then 6 Sherwin Williams in the north east georgia area (one in Florida too) and they were completely out of the flat exta white base needed to mix this color, in any line they carry. What! After 4 weeks of calling every Tuesday when my local store got “it’s truck”  and having no luck I decided to color match and headed to Home Depot.

When I went to the counter I specifically told the associate I wanted two gallons of Sherwin Williams Light French Gray. In fact I repeated it twice.  She smiled and said ‘no problem I can do that’. Minutes later I am walking out with my color matched Light French Gray, or so I thought.  I get home and anxiously begin to finish painting the room. One problem, as I am painting I am thinking to myself  ” I sure hope this dries darker then it looks”. I gave it some time to dry only to realize that it was a huge color match mistake. The color was definitely not Sherwin Williams Light French Gray (top) but……Behr’s Light French Gray (bottom). I figured this out a few hours later when I googled the color and both brands came up.

So what’s the lesson in all this

To save time and money, this is what I will do the next time I need to color match. When color matching another brand, (if possible) bring the lid with the formula on it. This way you can hand it to the associate and specifically say “make this color” and there is no misunderstanding.  In case your wondering I did look at the sticker on the can and it did not have a forumla on it just the name of the color, which could have also indicated an issue?

I love my new ceiling fan

Last week I went back to get the correct color. Now all the walls are finished and the room is ready for some furniture. Click here to see the Board and Batten project that inspired my walls.

Has this painting blunder ever happened to you?

PS. Usually, this room gets so much light but I took these pictures this morning with Tropical Storm Ida outside. For anyone impacted by this storm especially folks in Louisiana and Mississippi, my thoughts are with you. Stay safe.