So my next big project is the garage. Its way past time to get this thing cleaned and organized. I said I was going to wait until after my mother went home but I just couldn’t resist getting started. I took stock of everything that was in there, taking up space, in the wrong place, or no longer needed.
One thing that stuck out was a huge pile of half used paint cans. I like to redecorate so I have quite a bit of paint in there. I refinished some patio furniture so there are cans of bright pink spray paint, primer and sealer. I refinished two bathroom vanities, the paint and glaze from those projects was still in there. Not to mention the colors that are in each room along with primer and high gloss paint for doors and baseboards. What can I possibly do with all this paint?
I went to the thrift store and bought mason jars and lids. In each jar I poured a little bit of paint that matches the rooms I’ve painted. Then I put a piece of plastic wrap over the top, screwed on the lid and labeled each one with the color name and room it goes in. I also did that for the primer and high gloss paint. I wanted to make sure I had a little of each in case I needed to touch things up due to wear and tear.
This still left me with quite a bit of paint that I don’t need. Freecycle to the rescue. If you’ve never used Freecycle, check in to it. There is most likely one in your area and basically it is an email list you subscribe to and people send emails to the group of things they have and no longer need or things they are looking for. I listed all my paint, said it all had to go together and it was picked up that same day. If for some reason you do not have Freecycle available to you, open the paint and allow it to dry. You can fill the can with dirt to speed up the process. After it’s dry you can put it in the trash or you can check with your city for drop off locations for paint.
Now the paint in my garage is in cute little mason jars, neatly labeled, in case I need it again. Getting rid of all that paint freed up some space, now I just have to find where to store these cute little jars of paint.