Paint is one of those things that you can never just buy “the perfect amount” of. You either have too much or too little—and if you have too little, you are forced to go out and buy another can. And that extra can is exactly what will push you back into the “too much” camp. And you can’t return paint, so what are you to do with the leftovers?
Instead of letting them sit around your house, or in your basement, collecting dust and rust, here is a list of super easy projects you can do with all that leftover paint.
1.Paint A Small Room Or Hallway
We were going to paint our upstairs light gray, but at the last minute, I decided against it, and instead opted for a dark gray/blue color. But we had already bought the paint, so we had two whole cans of unused light gray paint sitting in our upstairs hallway. One long weekend, we got bored, so decided to repaint our bathroom. It’s a small bathroom, maybe 10’ x 8’. The gray that we didn’t use upstairs suddenly seemed like the perfect color for that small space. And voila – within 4 hours, we had a freshly painted bathroom for the price of half of an unused can of paint. (Now we have 1 ½ cans of light gray paint to let sit around…Don’t worry, I’m thinking of my next project as we speak.)
We also used a bit of the paint to paint the hallway leading to the upstairs - it went nicely with the dark gray/blue!
2. Paint Some Cabinets
In that same bathroom, we used half a can of leftover white paint (from a previous job) on the cabinets. Since we had repainted the walls, the cabinets no longer matched, so we dedicated the next weekend to redoing the cabinets. After some sanding, priming and two coats of paint, we have nice white cabinets to match our soft gray walls.
In that same bathroom, we used half a can of leftover white paint (from a previous job) on the cabinets. Since we had repainted the walls, the cabinets no longer matched, so we dedicated the next weekend to redoing the cabinets. After some sanding, priming and two coats of paint, we have nice white cabinets to match our soft gray walls.
3. Paint An Accent Wall
I love accents walls – I really do. And the great thing about using leftover paint from another room in the house to paint an accent wall is that it will give unexpected harmony – or flow – to your home. A small accent wall might take a ¼ of a can of paint, while a larger accent wall might take ½ to ¾ of a can of paint.
4. Paint Some Furniture
This is my absolute favorite thing to do with leftover paint. Seriously, because of all the leftover paint we have (what with being in the painting business and all) everything in our home gets painted at least 2 or 3 times before I finally settle on a permanent color. It’s a problem, I know, but I just love the fact that I can have a virtually new piece of furniture with some leftover paint and a little bit of legwork.
I love accents walls – I really do. And the great thing about using leftover paint from another room in the house to paint an accent wall is that it will give unexpected harmony – or flow – to your home. A small accent wall might take a ¼ of a can of paint, while a larger accent wall might take ½ to ¾ of a can of paint.
4. Paint Some Furniture
This is my absolute favorite thing to do with leftover paint. Seriously, because of all the leftover paint we have (what with being in the painting business and all) everything in our home gets painted at least 2 or 3 times before I finally settle on a permanent color. It’s a problem, I know, but I just love the fact that I can have a virtually new piece of furniture with some leftover paint and a little bit of legwork.
5. Home Accents
I don’t believe in buying any home accents new, for two reasons: 1) New is boring (sorry if this offends anyone!) and 2) I can always find a picture frame, shelf, end table, rug, piece of cloth—whatever!—at a flea market, garage sale or antique mall that is in decent enough condition to be redone and made beautiful with a little bit of paint and love. For some projects, I use less than a quarter can of paint, while others will use about half.
I don’t believe in buying any home accents new, for two reasons: 1) New is boring (sorry if this offends anyone!) and 2) I can always find a picture frame, shelf, end table, rug, piece of cloth—whatever!—at a flea market, garage sale or antique mall that is in decent enough condition to be redone and made beautiful with a little bit of paint and love. For some projects, I use less than a quarter can of paint, while others will use about half.
If you have leftover paint lying around your home, don’t toss it; get creative and make something new out of something old!
Have projects you’ve recently completed? Send us pictures for others to gain inspiration from!
Have projects you’ve recently completed? Send us pictures for others to gain inspiration from!