Learning from my mistakes

[Packard]

My dad used to say “Any fool can learn from his mistakes; a smart man will learn from others’ mistakes and never make those themselves.”

I am giving you all an opportunity to learn from my error.

A while back I bought three samples of blue/green paint for my bedroom.  I labeled the bottles that they came in as #1, #2, #3.  And I labeled The paint-outs also as #1, #2, #3.

Number 1 was the winner.  Unfortunately drips from the brush mostly obscured the identification label.  I brought the container with me and the Benjamin Moore dealer was able to figure it out. 

So now, whenever I buy any paint, I cover all the identifying labels with clear packing tape.  No matter how much paint dries on the tape, I can always scrape it off and see clearly what the specs are.  I cover the color formula and also the type of finish.

So I covered “Regal Select”, “egg shell” and “base XXXX”.

I hope this saves others from “paint ambiguity syndrome”.  [big grin]

 

[oberlin1]

Thank you!  Not all of us as are as smart as we would like to be! 

 

[Sparktrician]

Excellent idea!  Thanks for sharing!  [smile]

 

[twistsol1]

Here's another option to accomplish the same thing. I take photos of the paint details and keep them in a folder on my computer. I do like the option of preserving the label with tape though. Great idea.

 

[squall_line]

I would add, too, if you have a multi-bedroom or multi-bathroom house and it's not exceedingly obvious which room was painted with which color or that a particular room is a "Master" bedroom/bathroom, label the rooms with cardinal directions or some other immutable characteristic.  Just because you call a room "kids room" or "play room" or even "family room" doesn't mean that a future owner (or your estate, god forbid) will have any idea which one that is if they need to touch up or match the paint in the future.

This goes double for trim/doors, and triple if every can is a different shade of beige/greige.

Source: the dozens of mostly-helpful-but-not-completely-helpful labeled cans of paint the former owners of our house left behind, and the completely-unhelpful-and-in-some-cases-completely-unmatching cans of paint in my wife's first house.

 

[Cheese]

I would add, too, if you have a multi-bedroom or multi-bathroom house and it's not exceedingly obvious which room was painted with which color or that a particular room is a "Master" bedroom/bathroom, label the rooms with cardinal directions or some other immutable characteristic.  Just because you call a room "kids room" or "play room" or even "family room" doesn't mean that a future owner (or your estate, god forbid) will have any idea which one that is if they need to touch up or match the paint in the future.

This goes double for trim/doors, and triple if every can is a different shade of beige/greige.

Source: the dozens of mostly-helpful-but-not-completely-helpful labeled cans of paint the former owners of our house left behind, and the completely-unhelpful-and-in-some-cases-completely-unmatching cans of paint in my wife's first house.

This has been my solution to this dilemma.

As 1/4 full cans of paint dry out, I no longer need to keep them as a guide and they're promptly pitched each spring. Before I started this spread sheet I literally had 25-30 opened cans of paint downstairs and they were used as place holders. No more... [big grin]

[attachimg=1]

 

[Packard]

I would add, too, if you have a multi-bedroom or multi-bathroom house and it's not exceedingly obvious which room was painted with which color or that a particular room is a "Master" bedroom/bathroom, label the rooms with cardinal directions or some other immutable characteristic.  Just because you call a room "kids room" or "play room" or even "family room" doesn't mean that a future owner (or your estate, god forbid) will have any idea which one that is if they need to touch up or match the paint in the future.

This goes double for trim/doors, and triple if every can is a different shade of beige/greige.

Source: the dozens of mostly-helpful-but-not-completely-helpful labeled cans of paint the former owners of our house left behind, and the completely-unhelpful-and-in-some-cases-completely-unmatching cans of paint in my wife's first house.

Years ago, when we used “page-a-day” diaries instead of computers, I had the idea of printing pages to fit in a loose leaf binder that had descriptions of rooms, to which you could tape receipts, paint a square, and list all the finishes that were used for each room. It would also have a calendar that listed future maintenance (When did I last have my septic tank pumped out?).

Nowadays I guess it would be an app.  (And where did I put my old Rolodex?) [big grin]

 

[Picktool]

Here's another option to accomplish the same thing. I take photos of the paint details and keep them in a folder on my computer. I do like the option of preserving the label with tape though. Great idea.

Take that photo and email it to yourself or someone other for future reference.

As for the tape, 2 years ago I covered the paint label printout from Home Depot w/ clear tape.
Last year I needed more and the glue from the tape ruined it. Had shiny white showing.
Sorta like an Advance Auto parts receipt fade. 

 

[Packard]

Here's another option to accomplish the same thing. I take photos of the paint details and keep them in a folder on my computer. I do like the option of preserving the label with tape though. Great idea.

As for the tape, 2 years ago I covered the paint label printout from Home Depot w/ clear tape.
Last year I needed more and the glue from the tape ruined it.

I had not thought of that.  I do have archival clear tape that was intended for the mounting of art work.  It is left over from my picture framing shop.  I may switch to use that.  It is pricy tape, but I will never use it otherwise, so no cost as I still have a roll left.
https://888mfgcorp.com/crystalclearacidfreeadhesivetape1x55yds8064.aspx

 

[Packard]

OK.  So my advice was bad.  Like Picktool, my label faded.  This after just one week;

I then tried my Brother label maker.  First deliberately painting over the label:

And then scrubbing clean after drying:

I would note that while Benjamin Moore makes some fine paints, they have the most dismal labeling in the industry.  The graphics look like in-store branding of generic products and don’t evoke an image of quality.  They also use cheap uncoated paper for the labels with further cheapens the appearance. 

In any case the Brother label scrubbed clean, but the Benjamin Moore label started to wipe away.  Home Depot’s Behr could give B-M a tutorial on label design.