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This is the wall covering my entire living room and kitchen. We used to have a toddler gate here to stop my son running into the kitchen, and it left a mark on the wall when we removed it and the paint flaked off.

flaked paint on wall

I'm not even certain what type of paint this is - matt emulsion? Is it possible for me to repaint just this area without it being painfully obvious, or am I going to have to repaint the whole wall? We're moving out of this house so ideally this would be a small job. I also don't know the colour which probably isn't going to make this much easier... I'm going to have to do the whole wall, aren't I?!

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  • Could just be an optical illusion but those pieces of paint that are flaking look like they have some abrasions and don't match the rest of the wall. If you use one of them on the color match computer it won't give a good match. Try to peel a piece a little further away from a "clean" section of the wall.
    – Platinum Goose
    Jun 22 at 14:07
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    The answers have the proper way of doing it but, honestly, if you just peal off the broken bits, match the paint, give it a quick clean and paint then over it with whatever brushes/rollers you have, it'll probably not be noticeable. Hell, if you have young kids they'll likely mess up a fine finish soon enough anyway.
    – Jack Aidley
    Jun 22 at 16:25
  • Would you consider a horizontal stripe of contrasting colour from the cabinet all the way along this wall?
    – Criggie
    Jun 23 at 7:42

2 Answers 2

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That looks like a long haired roller finish,

clean the wall around the damage. remove any loose flakes, sand (120 grit) and clean the surface in and around the damage ,

Match the paint, take a sample and have the colour and gloss level matched. any idiot can use one of those colour matching computers, if they don't have one of those the paint mixer will probably be highly skilled.

Fill the dents and cracks with wall filler. If you paint dilute wood glue in the dent before filling it may help the filler stick. (I'd use the powdered filler as you can store it for decades). sand flat (120, then 240 grit).

A piece of 240 grit sand paper glued the the middle of a larger board (use white wood glue) can get a high flatness.

Roll on three coats of paint, each feathered over a slightly larger area.

If it's a small blemish a small sponge roller can be used.

If the patch is lacking on surface texture do more coats.

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  • Texture wise, I have found that heavy primer coats with a roller creates the orange peel effect better than relying on the paint alone.
    – Evil Elf
    Jun 22 at 11:55
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    Carefully pry off a big flake to take to the store for a color match. You're repainting, so a 2" fix isn't going to be any more difficult than a 1" fix, and a big flake will make it easier for them to get a good match.
    – FreeMan
    Jun 22 at 12:08
  • @EvilElf You can buy 'orange peel' mud spray in big box stores. I recommend practicing on an old board and tuning the pattern. It takes steady and fast application to get it right. Don't stand too close. Wipe it off and repeat as needed.
    – JimmyJames
    Jun 22 at 17:19
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    Thank you – followed these steps today and it already looks much better. Not the world's smoothest repair job but a lot better looking than the photo above! Appreciate the detailed instructions.
    – Matt Andrews
    Jun 22 at 19:18
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Bring a piece of that paint (the flake) to a paint store and they will match it.

Now take plaster and even up that hole,

Use sandpaper (240 grid) and sand it flat.

Now you are ready to paint.

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