I rue the day I thought ceiling paint was universal. Or the time we let renters pick the outside color for a house and approved the color, but didn’t note the name.

We’ve been painting our house and between outside paint and trim and inside paint and trim, there’s a lot to keep track of and I wanted to share my trick with you.

A few years ago. I had to go to the store to buy a quart of paint for touch up and instead of trying to write down the information, I snapped a picture of the paint can. It greatly sped things up at the paint counter and when I went home, I promptly disposed of the empty 5 gallon bucket I’d been needlessly storing.

Now, I take pictures of the actual can (so I know the brand, sheen, etc.) and the tag or any writing the paint person adds. This has been invaluable recently, as my rural hardware store has had to modify the paint I chose as they didn’t have the required base the first time around. Had I not shown a picture of the modified formula, the color I ended up with might have been slightly different.

So, next time you paint, snap a picture of the can and color info. I even go so far as to label it (outside trim, bathrooms).