Blending into existing walls
 

I have just removed two hideous shelf units, ceiling to floor, from the corners of my dining room, only to learn that the room had been painted after their installation. The previous paint is underneath. I would like to paint these sections without having to paint the rest of the walls. What is the best technique for doing this. I have found a swatch of a color that looks like a close match. I would imagine that I should avoid square lines and sand out further into a circular motion or something...

It the surface to be painted is not smooth, skim coating may help

It's a thin coat of joint compound spread out over the un-even surface to sort of re-face it...smooth it out so to speak
You'd spread it with the appropriate sized taper's knife (kinda like a big putty knife), sand it to smooth and blend, prime, then paint

Thank you for your response, but I think you may have misread my post. The surface is fine - smooth, existing paint. I am concerned with matching the existing paint on the same wall. Let's say the wall is about 8 feet long, the area I have to paint is only about a 2 foot wide section at the corner.

Paint the entire wall, stop at the corner. the corner hides any small color change.:)

Ah. I see
There's almost no way that will work with a different paint

That, however, may work
You'll have to go to the corner

Ok, cool. Thanks, I appreciate the info. At least now I know my plan of attack!