Uses for Leftover Paint
What Can You Do With Leftover Paint?
Whenever a paint job is finished, there are usually several buckets with a little bit of paint leftover in them. It’s not that the person who got the paint purchased the wrong amount. No, sometimes a bit of leftover paint is just part of the process. However, this little leftover paint often isn’t enough to add a new coat to an existing wall to touch it up. It’s also not enough to start painting a blank wall with this new color. This leftover paint often ends up in the garage, taking up space in the form of mostly empty buckets. Here are some creative ways to use up that leftover paint!
Small DIY Projects
Some of the easiest and simplest DIY projects consist of taking old pieces of furniture and giving them a fresh coat of paint. Since the leftover paint is already available, the first step for the project is already out of the way. Things such as old chairs, dressers, desks, and doors are examples of the different types of furniture you could repaint.
It doesn’t stop there either! Coasters, flowerpots, utensil handles, and fabrics are all things that you could do projects with as well. Everything listed here would benefit greatly from a fresh coat of paint, and they wouldn’t need much of it. Some of them wouldn’t even need a full coat either. A simple accent color could drastically change the look of a door or desk.
The Kitchen
Even though the kitchen is probably where the family spends most of its time, the décor may not be conducive to a cozy gathering place. There are a number of ways you can use leftover paint to breathe new life into your kitchen. Think about the dominant tones in your kitchen and whether your left-over paint could provide some much-needed contrast.
You can use paint to improve the look of coasters, utensil handles, and even paint your cabinet and door trims. For lighter kitchens, dark paint can break up the monotony of the scheme and vice versa for darker kitchens and light-colored paint. You can even use leftover paint to create a separate theme for your dining room to distinguish it from the kitchen if you have an open layout connecting the two.
Bedrooms
Redecorating all of your bedrooms can be expensive, so why not create contrasting styles using leftover paint instead? Kids especially love the look of new living space. You can use leftover paint to make subtle, yet impactful changes, without changing the overall color scheme. The secret to using leftover paint for children’s rooms is using your creativity.
Painting items like computer desks, bedside cabinets, and closets in contrasting colors can really brighten up a child’s room. Younger children love lots of color and contrast, so don’t be afraid to go wild with your creative ideas. You can even download or buy stencils of their favorite characters from the gaming, literature, or TV worlds and bring them to life with leftover paint.
Upcycle Your Furniture
If you find yourself in a position where you are about to toss out a beloved piece of furniture and are finding it difficult to let it go, your leftover paint may provide the answer you are looking for. Upcycling is the popular practice of giving old furniture a new lease on life. You can put leftover paint to good use by sprucing up undamaged, yet faded pieces of furniture, that you would have otherwise tossed in the trash.
Painting and reupholstering old furniture can make it look and feel brand new. In fact, many people make a living from selling upcycled items such as furniture. It doesn’t take much skill and you can use the power of the internet to gain invaluable inspiration on how to use your leftover paint for upcycling projects. At the very least, you may discover a new hobby that will provide you with hours of enjoyment and relaxation.
Colorize your Garden
If your garden is looking a little dull, you can spruce things up by using your leftover paint. Plant pots, fences, and fixtures are features in your garden that mostly go unnoticed. A lick of paint can make all the difference, and you can use different colors to highlight features in your garden. If you have light-colored flowers and dark-colored leftover paint, use the remainder to break up the monotony of the garden by painting your plant pots.
Features, such as lighting fixtures, will stand out more if you apply a fresh coat of paint. From the street view, the exterior of your home will look much different, even though you have simply highlighted features that have been there all along. This is one of the cheapest and most effective ways of improving curb appeal if you are planning on selling your house.
Accenting & Framing
Do you have a room that is too dark or too light? If you have leftover paint that is of a contrasting color, you can use it to create contrast in a number of ways. In dark rooms, light-colored paint can be used to create contrast around frames, bookshelves, fireplace surrounds etc. The same is true of light-colored rooms when you find yourself with leftover darker shades of paint.
You can also frame freestanding artwork using leftover paint. If you see a print that you want to buy but do not want to pay extra for the frame, leftover paint may provide you with a solution. You can paint frames around your artwork that accentuate the qualities of the piece without spending money on an expensive frame.
Let Out the Picasso Inside
Leftover paint doesn’t just have to be used as a flat coat on something. If you’ve always wanted the chance to let your creative side out with paint, now is your chance! If you’re not the most skilled painter or artist, you could opt for transforming some of the spaces in your home with just a touch of paint. This could include painting the trim in bathrooms or living rooms, giving them a subtle accent. If you want to go bigger with your changes, you could find a simple design to paint on a wall to convert it into an accent wall.
Each of these doesn’t require much skill and can completely transform the interior pace you paint in . If you are a great painter and artist, you could even try painting a mural! Both of these options will allow your creative side to flourish and help you get rid of that leftover paint.
Dispose of it… Or Donate It
The most common thing to do with leftover paint, besides storing it, is disposing of it. However, just dumping it down the drain is highly discouraged, as this could damage not only your plumbing system but the environment as well. To dispose of it properly, make sure the paint is completely dried out.
Since the paint at the bottom of the can isn’t that much anyway, leaving it out in the sun should do the trick for drying it up. How you are allowed to dispose of this dried-up paint varies depending on where you live. Some states allow you to toss it with your regular trash and others have certain processes. To be sure, check your local waste laws to make sure you are following the proper protocol.
If you don’t want to throw it away or feel bad not having used it all, try donating it! Several social and public selling sites always have people on the lookout for paint for their DIY projects. These paint seekers would be more than grateful for the donation that you make to their projects. This way, you get your project done, help with someone else’s, and also get rid of all of the purchased paint. That’s a win-win-win situation.
Let Us Have the Leftovers
When you contact us to do the work for you instead, you don’t have to worry about there being any leftover paint in your garage. Contact us to get your free estimate! Arizona Painting Company have extensive experience with paint and offers color consultation if you are stuck or unsure about how to move forward with your project. Any questions you may have, we are more than happy to answer.