How do I colour match an existing wall paint in my NB home when the original can is gone?

Modern spectrophotometer colour-matching technology at any paint store can match an existing wall colour remarkably well — bring in a paint chip from an inconspicuous area of the wall and you'll get a match that's close enough for most touch-ups, or very precise for a full repaint.

The best sample you can give a paint store's colour scanner is a small, flat chip of the actual dried paint — not a photo taken on your phone under fluorescent lighting, and not a memory. Use a razor blade or putty knife to pop a 2-inch chip off a hidden spot: inside a closet, behind a door, or low on a wall behind furniture. The paint scanner reads the light spectrum reflected off the chip and formulates a match in whatever paint brand the store carries. Benjamin Moore stores in NB, Sherwin-Williams, and Dulux stockists all offer this service for free or a small fee. It's surprisingly accurate.

A few things affect how well the match holds up on the wall. Paint sheen matters just as much as colour — if your original walls were painted in eggshell and you match the colour into satin, the repainted patch will look different even if the colour is identical. Always ask the store to match in the same sheen as the original. Paint age and UV fading are the other complicating factor. Older walls fade over time, especially on south- or west-facing rooms that get strong afternoon sun through NB summers. A fresh colour match of the original formula will be slightly brighter and more saturated than the faded wall surrounding it. If you're just touching up a small spot, that difference will be visible. In that case, either repaint the entire wall from corner to corner, or blend the touch-up in while the paint is still wet to help it merge with the surrounding area.

If you still have the original paint can even with just a dried crust in the bottom, the store can sometimes read the colour code stamped on the lid. Many NB homeowners don't know that paint can lids from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams often have the colour name and formula printed right on them. Bring the lid in if you still have it.

For a small touch-up — filling a nail hole, fixing a scuff — buy the smallest quantity available, often a sample pot (-15), rather than a full gallon. For repainting an entire wall or room with a matched colour, get a full gallon and repaint wall-to-wall for consistency. If you're repainting a whole room, the slight mismatch between formula and faded walls won't matter since everything gets refreshed.

If the touch-up needs to be invisible (a rental property before handover, or a heritage home with custom colour), a professional painter can feather and blend touch-ups more seamlessly than most DIYers can manage. For most everyday touch-ups, though, a good colour scan and the right sheen will get you close enough.

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