OH, I am SOOOO frustrated with the paint we are picking for our kitchen/dining areas.
First of all, it took me a long time to decide what colors I liked on the swatch. Then, it took me a long time to get some real samples to try out. Then, it took me a long time to acutally take the plunge with the real deal.
I chose a dark grey/blue color for the kitchen, behind the oven and fridge. I started painting away, and fell in LOVE with the color! Wow. I was so proud of myself for taking a chance and getting it right!
I did three coats on the whole area and it looked fantastic. A few hours later, I went to go do some touch-ups. To my shock and horror, the touch-ups turned out a totally lighter color! WTF!! I must not have mixed the dang paint well enough. Okay, this might seem like an easy fix, just go get a new can of paint and mix it well, right? WRONG! Because I like the DARK color! I don't like the color as much if it's all the way mixed.
Crap.
Trying to match a mystery wall color doesn't work very well. We bought a butt-load of new "add a touch of this" samples but none of them are right.
Today, Rogér mixed two of the sample colors together, and it's surprisingly close. I think we're going to have to live with it.
Moral of the story: Mix your paint THOROUGHLY! Even if you hate the fully mixed color, at least you don't fall in love with a color you can't match.
-Sarah