This one comes in from our MAILBAG! A reader asked how she could determine the original color of her walls in her historical
condo. There are several ways that you can go about this but here are a few I suggest:
1. If your light switch plates have
never been changed, remove it to find the color beneath it. You can also look behind your heating vents if they are wall-mounted
2.
If you have someplace where you have installed a cabinet, drop down iron closet, linen closet, or other secret passage, try
looking underneath the cabinet with a flashlight to see the wall color inside - often times it will be there. The same is
true for towel racks, toothbrush holders, etc.
3. Find a spot where paint is peeling and break off a little piece of the
paint and layer by layer, with tweezers, peel the paint away under a magnifying glass or look at the bottom of the paint peel
to see the original color. Compare it to the wall where the paint peeled off to see if there is yet another color beneath.
4.
Check in with neighbors. Some of them may have never strayed from the original color palette and you can check with them to
see what their wall color is.
5. If that fails, you might contact your local historical society. If you know when your building
was erected, they may have old photographs or records of period color palettes to help you determine historically accurate
paint colors.
