Any frugal advice for painting my rooms?
By newtondak
@newtondak (3946)
United States
3 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
2 Sep 08
Many places sell what they call "oops" paint. It's paint that was mixed for a customer but didn't turn out to be the color the customer asked for. Often, these are neutral colors like off whites and grays, pale blues, etc. They sell them for a pretty good discount. If you have a building store like Home Depot or Lowe's, check with them to see if they have any.
Another thing you can do is buy cheap white latex undercoat and color it with food colors. Make enough to have some extra for touch ups.
2 people like this
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
2 Sep 08
I found some "oops paint" to use in my guest bedroom. The rooms that I need to paint now are fairly large with cathedral ceilings so I'm calculating that it will take 3 gallons for one and 2 gallons for each of the other two.
1 person likes this
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
6 Sep 08
At all of our recycling depots here in B.C., there is a paint section, where you can leave un-used paint and/or pick up partial cans of paint! Quite often, contractors will leave lge (10 gallon) buckets of half used paint...AND ALL IS FOR FREE! Often times I have picked up several part tins of shades of one color and mixed them together until I have enough for the room! Always pick up what you can in "whites" as they can be used in future to soften colors that are to dark for you! The only caution is that "latexs must be mixed with Latexs"....and enamels with enamels! Do not worry if the finish is "eggshell" or "velvet" or "semigloss" as they will all mix easily. Have fun...but just remember that you will never be able to duplicate the color! Cheers & Rainbows!
1 person likes this
@thedaddym (1731)
• United States
10 Sep 08
If you are flexible about the color you could ask if they have any mis mixed paint. Sometimes they will mix a paint for someone and it is not what the person wanted, they will mark this down at a deep discount for someone else to purchase. You can save a lot of money this way..
1 person likes this
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
10 Sep 08
I have purchased "oops" paint before for the smaller rooms - they usually don't have large quantities of one color. I have larger rooms to paint now and haven't found anywhere that they have that much of one color - I guess I could buy the one at discount and then have them mix colors to match if I need more - it would still be cheaper than buying it all at regular price.
@newtondak (3946)
• United States
31 Aug 08
Do you remember how much it was a gallon? Everywhere I have went they want $20 or over for a gallon of paint - it's absolutely ridiculous!
They redid this house a few years ago and painted everything white - now it's just dirty and dingy white - and I've resolved that I will not go through another winter in an entirely white house!
