When I’m looking for that perfect paint color for my furniture make-overs, paint chips and fan-decks are my go-2-tool. There are literally 1000’s of paint colors to choose from in every brand possible.
But what do you do when you need an EXACT custom color match and you can’t find it anywhere?
Milk Painted Table Before Color Matching
A color matching machine (aka spectrophotometer) is a free service available at all major paint stores. It’s a magnificent tool if you’re trying to match an existing paint color in your home for touch-ups, or in this case a piece of furniture.
If you’ve been following my blog, you may recognize this table. This was my 1st piece re-styled with Milk-Paint… but it didn’t stay Milk-Painted for long!
A gorgeous newlywed couple came to buy it… and they were my kind of shoppers too! 😉
They had brought a side table she had recently purchased at HomeSense to color match it with the coffee table. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a match… YET…
“I’d like this coffee table painted in the EXACT same blue as my side table… can you re-paint it with a perfect color match?”
She left the side table with me and the next day I drove around for half an afternoon picking up a ton of paint chips. I could NOT find the EXACT match anywhere!
I decided to bring the table to Sherwin Williams so they could work their magic with a color matching machine, . This machine measures color digitally and electronically by scanning an object of your choice. It then spits out a formula calculating the exact amount of pigments required to create a perfectly matched paint to your object.
What will the spectrophotmeter scan? Pretty much ANY smooth non-high gloss surface that is larger than a quarter. If you find an inspirational color on a piece of fabric, a greeting card, a painting, or a pair of heels or handbag, bring them in and you can create the EXACT color matched paint! If you have something you want to match that’s too big to take to the store, like a large piece of furniture, try unscrewing a piece of molding, a door, or bring in one of the drawers.
I wish I had taken some “after” photo’s before delivering this custom piece. Here’s a shot of the table before the last finishing coat. The finishes differ but the base paint on the table matches the side table on the right EXACTLY!
If you have any questions or comments about color matching paint, let’s chat! 🙂
Enjoy your day …and remember you’re fabulous!
Denise
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Hi. How would recommend color matching a solid wood table that I cannot take apart? It’s a large rectangular dining table so much too big to take to the store.
Could you possibly try taking a pic on your phone making sure the image looks like a match? Or possibly printing it out and bringing that to the paint store. It tricky to get an exact match like this but you could get something really close.
I’ll definitely try that. Thank you!
My old crockpot discolored my daughter’s painted buffer with heat so there is a round discolration on it.
I would like to fix it for her. If we took a drawer (something small) in to match thecolor, could we paint the top over and cover that spot?
Sorry…auto corrected buffet
Hi Marcy! For wood tops, I’ve heard non-gel toothpaste mixed with baking soda works. I have no idea if that will work on a painted surface (because I’ve never tried), but if you’re going to paint over it anyway, it may be worth it to try this method first. And yes, paint does cover heat stain spots.
Great post! Been reading a lot about painting furniture. Thanks for the info here!
I love the color matching at Home Depot. I bring any of my BM colors and have them match it in the Behr paint (so much less expensive)and just as good!
I know many furniture painters like yourself who color match one brand for another! Brilliant Suzanne, and thanks for adding this good point! 🙂