Over the weekend, we finally got the girls’ new rooms painted! I’m so happy about this, because now the trim, doors, and carpet can be installed, and we can move them in….and I can get started on painting my office!
We promised the girls that they could choose their own room colors, and Cakes requested purple, while Bee wanted light pink (they are little girls, after all). The last time we took stuff to the recycling center, we stopped at the Swap Shop, which is where people bring unwanted paint, varnish, household cleaners, and any other chemicals that shouldn’t go into the landfill. Everything is free for the taking, and we’ve really benefited from this in the past. We painted our basement bathroom, and my husband’s office with free, Swap Shop paint, and we also regrouted our shower with free grout and grout sealer, and varnished some trim with free polyurethane. On our last visit, we noticed that they had numerous cans of paint in various shades of pink and purple, and we had a light bulb moment. Maybe, if we combined all the pinks, and all the purples, we would end up with enough paint for both rooms – for FREE! Since a gallon of decent quality paint costs around $25, and we estimated that we would have to buy 4 gallons in order to give both rooms two coats, we decided to take a chance.
We primed everything first, and painted the ceilings and closets white. Then, we used an empty, 2-gallon primer bucket to mix up the paints. We had several small cans of purple, including one very light lavender, and a dark reddish-purple.
Some were flat, and some were semi-gloss or satin, but we decided that when they were all mixed, the final result would be satin or eggshell, which would be fine for bedrooms.
When all the purples were mixed, we thought the color was a little dark, so we added all the little jars and containers of leftover off-whites, which we’d accumulated over a decade of do-it-yourselfing, to lighten it up a bit. I joked to my husband that we were making “Franken-paint.”
The finished product:
My husband has the amazing ability to paint a perfect line along the ceiling, without masking. I have no idea how he does it.
We had two, nearly-full gallons of pink paint. One was blue-based, and the other was more of an orangey pink.
When combined, I thought the color was still too orange, so we added some of the purple to tone it down. The finished product was perfect, and when we got it on the walls, I knew that Bee would love it!
It was just what she wanted, and she was very happy when she came home from her grandparents’ house and saw it for the first time.
Cakes was pretty pleased, too. When she saw her room in all its purpleness, she said, “Oh, it’s BEAUTIFUL!
My husband and I are happy because they’re happy, and of course, it’s always nice to keep paint out of the landfill, and save $100 in the process! Plus, we still have about 3/4 gallon of each color for future touch-ups. If they get sick of the pink and purple, we aren’t out anything, and back to the Swap Shop we’ll go!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
The colors look great! I can’t wait to see what the rooms look like when everything is put together. On a side note, I made your lemon bread recipe this morning. Haven’t tasted it yet but it smells delicious.
We have done this with paint in the past as well. So smart and easy! So glad you posted this!
Such a great way to recycle! I’ll have to see if my area has a similar resource. On another note, I wonder if you’ve ever written about how you handle saving and organizing kids’ memorabilia, school work, art, photos, etc. I’m very sentimental so it’s easy for me to want to save everything, however I don’t want to burden my kids with all this stuff when they grow up. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on that topic.
Hi Heather – We pick up the “oops” paint from our local big box hardware store if we like the color or it can be combined easily with other paints. Usually, a gallon of “oops” paint is $5.00. Not as frugal as free but still a good deal compared to full priced paint. I love the purple and the pink – great job! Shirley
What a great idea to mix the leftover paint. The colors are beautiful! Practical, creative ideas like these are why I love your blog.
I sure wish we had a swap shop in our area. What a great idea. I have a funny story for you, Heather. When we bought our house, I wanted a purple bathroom. I had a shower curtain already with purple in it that I liked. I took it to Home Depot, had them match the color in flat and brought it home. But when I painted the walls with it, it looked like a pastel easter egg! NOT what I had in mind. I had used up too much of the paint for the store to let me return it, so I took it to the local landfill operated trash company. They set it aside and I went back and bought a can of really dark purple – which I love. Here’s the funny part of the story… driving to the same landfill trash place, I drove past a mint green sided house – I’ve passed a million times, and on their front door–exterior, mind you, is my easter purple paint!! ((laugh)) I imagine they went to the trash place to empty trash and found the paint and decided it’d look great with that mint green exterior siding color! Hope it holds up for them seeing it was interior paint. They have a covered porch, so they may be okay. A mexican family lives there and I know in Mexico they love bright colors, so maybe this was just their style! I’m glad it went to a good cause, instead of in the landfill!
I’ve had paint oops moments like that too, when the color looked NOTHING like I envisioned it from the chip. But how cool that someone put your oops paint to good use!
I love the paint swap shop. I will have to check to see if there is one in our area. I thought I had remembered from your blog a little while back that you had mentioned a new way to stay on top of cleaning chores – maybe a card file or something?? I wondered if you had and if you’d share what you came up with. I am looking for a new way to keep track of my cleaning chores and thought you might have some ideas. Thanks!
Laurie
Love it and new to your blog! I wish we had a swap shop nearby…I would have things to contribute!