Fun Ways to Use Leftover Paint

What do you do when you have a half gallon of paint left over from your most recent Sarasota painting project? Some people will just let paint rot in their garages. Others will find ways to use up that paint, so that it does not go to waste. Paint is expensive. If you have extra paint, do not just let it go bad, sitting, taking up space in your garage year after year. Here are a few ways to get the most out of that can of paint, using up whatever is left over after your painting is done.

1. Give your kitchen some color. You can use leftover paint to make plain wooden spoons and spatulas a little more life. All you have to do is dip them in the paint and let them dry thoroughly and you will have a much more fun and colorful kitchen utensil that you’ll actually look forward to using. Just make sure that you do not get any paint on the part of the utensil that actually touches the food.

2. Make your flower pots more colorful. Painting your old flower pots is one of the best ways to both use up old paint and to revive flower pots that have become boring over the years. If you are tired of your old flower pots, give them a full coat of paint. For a more unique and modern look, you could try painting only part of the pot. If you are feeling particularly adventurous and have more than one color at your disposal, try painting a pattern or even using stencils in order to embellish even the plainest pot. This is also something that the kids might find fun!

3. Fix up your old dresser. Do you have an old dresser that is covered in dings and scratches? Maybe it is still in good condition, but the tone of the wood is so outdated that you feel embarrassed having it around the house. This is a perfect time to break out your old paint. You can make any dresser look more modern, simply by giving it thorough coat of paint. Depending on what material the dresser is made out of, you might need to prep and prime it before painting.

4. Stamp it onto your walls. If the current color you are trying to use up is a good complement to another color in another room of your house, you could transform that room by applying a pattern to that wall. By taking a stamp, you could easily and quickly apply a pattern to that wall, without really having to worry about not liking it. If you end up not really liking the effect, you can easily just paint the entire wall with whatever is left over from your can of paint.

5. Breathe life into an old piece of furniture. Is someone on your block selling an old desk? If you can pick it up for relatively little money, you could easily make it look new and fresh, simply by using your leftover paint to cover up any wear and tear on the piece. Shabby chic is very trendy right now, and with the right piece of furniture and a little paint, it is extremely easy to achieve. Be on the lookout for a great piece of furniture that just needs a little attention.

6. Create an accent wall. If you have a room in your house that is all one color, half a gallon of paint is more than enough to create an accent wall. Carefully decide which room of your house would most benefit from this treatment and then which wall would create the most visual interest, and then get to painting! You’re likely to use up whatever was left of your paint, and you’ll be left with a totally dry can that you can now use for just about anything!

7. Give a built in feature some dimension. If you paint your built in bookshelves a different color than the rest of the wall they are built in to, you have instantly created visually pleasing contrast that will make your home much more beautiful. An entire accent wall might be introducing too much color into your home, but highlighting just one built in element is a great way to add some color, without overpowering what you already having going on in the room.

8. Use it to create some art. Need some art that matches the tone of your room? Why not create it out of some of the leftover paint? Even if you do not want to paint something for the room you’ve just painted, using the exact color you have just used up, why bother buying art supplies when all of the materials you need are already sitting in your garage?