To Paint a Wall
Since buying my house I have not made too many changes to it, and mostly have just learned to live with its tiny flaws rather than start up a project to fix them. However, when I last visited my parents my dad happened to have on hand a bucket of plaster, so I took the opportunity to fix up some small holes in a wall.
Step one was applying the plaster and this went splendidly smooth. All I had to do was paint up so the patches would match the rest of the wall.
My house came with a collection of paint cans in the basement, so I figured that all I had to do was find the right one and bust out the paint roller. However none of the colors seemed quite right.
After deliberating between four different shades, I picked the most likely candidate and found the lid wouldn’t open. Eventually I more or less tore apart the lid (in a manner that assure it will never re-seal) and started painting.
It looked good at first, but after drying it was quickly apparent both the spots on the wall that I had missed, and that this really was not the same color as the wall had been before, or that the other three walls still were.
I tried a second candidate from the basement, and it was immediately clear that this was even further off and not a step in the right direction.
A quick bit of research showed that the best way to match a paint color is to remove a section of the painted wall with a knife and take it to the store to get matched. Given how well the plaster wall repair portion of the project went, I was willing to do this except that I had now painted the entire wall a different color.
The only way to make this work would be to remove a section from one of the other walls in the room. And, no.
No. This way leads to madness.
The project was already getting out of control, and I refused to allow it to spread to any additional walls. Let’s keep this problem contained.
Time to turn to apps. The first app wants to sync with a highly calibrated $200 device in order to accurately measure the color of the wall. I mean it probably would have worked great, but that is not the kind of budget we are shooting for in the project. Had the paint already sitting in the basement had matched this would have been a small and quick project with literately zero out of pocket expenses.
Next app is willing to pick a color by simply using the phone’s camera. I realize that there is a complex interplay between the lighting, the camera, and the screen that makes this not great, but this is the best that could be done given the confines to physics.
Eventually I find a color that I think matches, and the closest store available for pick-up is in Atlanta. So I turn towards shipping. I once had a ladder shipped to my house, so this wouldn’t be the oddest thing ever delivered, but it would certainly be up there. Shipping a gallon of paint is (understandably) a bit expensive, but what really sunk this plan is the it was going to take three weeks.
Alright forget the apps, let’s go to Lowes and pick up some paint chips. I assemble a large collection of nearly identical off whites, and compare them to the other walls in the room. After finding a candidate, I double check under different lighting conditions and go back to the store the next day to pick up some paint.
I start painting and immediately the color appears to be to light, but given that the last coat got darker after it dried, maybe this one also will? I forge ahead and paint the whole wall.
Next day the paint has dried and I can get a good look at the wall. I guess it is close enough? There are a few spots where it clearly needs a second coat, but beyond that this is going to have to do. I have already put in far too much time and money into this silly project and it is time to move on to something new.
