How do I match the paint colour on my older walls when the original can is gone?

Matching paint on older walls when you have no original can is a challenge, but there are reliable ways to get close. The best method is to carefully cut out a small chip of paint from an inconspicuous spot — behind a door, inside a closet, or below a baseboard. Take this chip to a paint store with a spectrophotometer, which reads the colour digitally. Most major stores in Metro Vancouver like Home Depot, Benjamin Moore retailers, and Cloverdale Paint offer free colour matching with this technology.

However, there is an important caveat: even a perfect spectrophotometer match may look slightly different on your wall. Paint changes colour over time due to UV exposure, cooking residue, cigarette smoke, and general aging. A colour-matched touch-up on a ten-year-old wall will often appear brighter or more saturated than the surrounding area. The sheen also matters enormously — eggshell next to flat, even in the exact same colour, will look noticeably different.

If the mismatch is too visible, the best approach is to repaint the entire wall from corner to corner. This avoids visible transitions and gives a fresh, uniform appearance. For a single room repaint with quality paint, expect to pay roughly $400 to $800 from a professional painter in Vancouver, depending on room size and how much cutting-in is required around trim and windows.

As a next step, take your paint chip to a dedicated paint store rather than a big box retailer — specialty shops generally have more precise colour-matching equipment and experienced staff who can adjust formulas for a closer match.

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