Good, Better, Best: How to Keep Track of Your Home’s Paint

There are a lot of little details you learn about your house after you own it for a while.

What kind of furnace do you have? When was the roof replaced? Who installed the water heater? What color is that wall in the hallway?

Some of those details matter more than others. But when you need one of them, it is surprisingly frustrating not to have it.

Paint is a perfect example.

You might think you’ll remember the color. Then five years go by, the kids scratch the wall, you move a piece of furniture, or you finally get around to fixing that spot you’ve been ignoring. Suddenly you’re standing in the paint aisle trying to figure out what “that light gray in the living room” was called.

That’s the idea behind my new Good / Better / Best series. Each week, I’ll be sharing practical ways to maintain, document, and care for your home, starting with something simple and building toward the habits that make homeownership easier over the long term.

And we’re starting with paint.

Good: Save Your Leftover Paint

The simplest thing you can do is keep your leftover paint.

If you have half a gallon left after painting a bedroom, don't immediately get rid of it. Keep it for future touch-ups. Small repairs, scuffs, nail holes, and other little imperfections are inevitable, and having the original paint on hand is much easier than trying to recreate the color later.

This is especially helpful in a home where you've used different colors throughout the house. A can of leftover paint sitting in the garage isn't particularly useful if you can't remember which room it belongs to.

Better: Label It by Location

The next step is simple: label the paint with where it was used.

“Living room” is much more helpful than an unlabeled can sitting on a basement shelf.

If you have several similar colors, be even more specific. “Primary bedroom walls” or “upstairs hallway” gives you the information you'll actually need when it's time for a touch-up.

You can also label trim paint, cabinet paint, exterior paint, or other specialty finishes so you don't have to rely on your memory later.

Best: Create a Paint Record

This is where a small homeowner habit becomes genuinely useful.

Keep a written record of the paint you've used throughout your home. For each room or area, record the brand, color name, color code if available, sheen, location, and the date it was painted.

I would also note where the leftover paint is stored.

That might sound like overkill when you're standing in a freshly painted room. But years later, you'll be very glad you took five minutes to write it down.

And this is particularly useful in Northwest Montana, where many homes have a mix of newer finishes and older materials. If you're maintaining a historic home in Kalispell, Whitefish, or elsewhere in the Flathead Valley, you may also be dealing with layers of paint and finishes added over many decades.

For homes built before 1978, there's another reason to be thoughtful about paint records. Montana DEQ notes that older homes may contain lead-based paint, and certain renovation, repair, and painting work that disturbs it requires lead-safe practices and certified contractors.

Why I Think This Matters

I don't think being a good homeowner means having every detail of your house memorized.

It means knowing where to find the information when you need it.

That's the philosophy behind Good / Better / Best.

Good is taking the basic step.

Better is making that information easier to manage.

Best is creating a record that your future self will thank you for.

Over time, those little records start to tell the story of your home. Paint colors. Major systems. Maintenance. Renovations. Warranties. Contractors. Appliances. The things you changed and the things you need to remember.

That's why I've been putting together my Homeowner's Guide.

A Homeowner's Guide for Your Home

I'm creating a personal, printed Homeowner's Guide for my clients to keep with their house.

It's designed to be customized for your specific home, with places to keep track of paint colors and finishes, appliances, major systems, maintenance, renovations, warranties, contractors, important contacts, and all those little details that are easy to forget.

The idea is that you don't fill it out once and put it on a shelf.

You keep adding to it as your home changes.

Because whether you're in a 1910 Craftsman in Kalispell, a newer home in Whitefish, a cabin near one of the Flathead Valley's lakes, or somewhere else in Northwest Montana, your house has its own history. Keeping track of that history makes it easier to care for your home today and can be incredibly useful years down the road.

Good homeowners take care of their homes.

Better homeowners keep track of what they've done.

The best homeowners leave themselves a record.

And that's what I'm hoping this guide will help you do.

If you'd like your own printed Homeowner's Guide, text me at (406) 607-0116 or email me at emilyadamsmt@kw.com.

Be sure to include your address so I can begin customizing the binder for your home. :)