spotting in painting on acoustic ceiling?

[mike]

Am getting my house ready to sell and after removing some less popular features, now have some holes to patch and touch up. Patching them is no problem, getting the paint to blend in is.

The ceiling is a flat off-white and while I have matched the color pretty well, I cant get it as flat as the surrounding area so it will blend in. Am using flat interior wall paint but even it has a different finish that can be spotted pretty easy. I had the rest of the house painted, save the ceilings. I didn't think spotting in these areas would be that big of a deal.

Anyone have any tips or tricks to blending in flat paint colors?

Mike in Dallas

[Steve]

"mike" wrote in news:Ns8Tj.2298$ [e-mail]:

It's a lost cause. You'll have to give up and paint the whole ceiling. Sheen and color can vary from one can to the next even if they're next to each other on the store shelf.

You can switch from one can of paint to the next in the middle of a wall and have it show. That's why pros mix all the cans in a big bucket.

[mike]

understood - I have the color nailed, its the variation in "flat" thats killing me here. I'll confess, I did try tinting a sample of spackling. It dries flat and I thought it might help me acheive a less detectable, stealth finish but it didn't quite do the trick.

[Steve]

"mike" wrote in news:DY8Tj.2299$ [e-mail]:

The sheen level varies too, but even worse. I learned not to stop for lunch in the middle of a wall. Starting up again with the same can of paint will show.