Having a whole house to ourselves, Penelope and I often feel like a couple of kids when the parents are absent. We play fetch with the dogs in the hallways and let slobbery tennis balls bounce off the walls. We push furniture around and rearrange the rooms on impulse. We call every meal or break from work “a party.” We have whatever pets we like and don’t make them live outdoors. We are admittedly a bit rowdy and even play the piano and violin in the middle of the night (our house is a little apart from the neighbors). And instead of “birthdays,” we have “birthday weeks” wherein we take a week long holiday from work, feast on our favorite foods, and watch DVD’s which we order especially.

Not surprisingly, we, with the help of our rambunctious dogs (especially during their puppy teething stages), inflict a noticeable amount of wear and tear on our home and furniture and it is lucky for us that the distressed look is so popular nowadays. Nevertheless, we have a cabinet stocked with paints to keep our lifestyle on the romantic side of shabby and away from woefully distressed. We are constantly painting, decorating, patching, repairing, refinishing, and making things for our house. Over the years, we have developed some economical and efficient habits which we would like to share.

Thrift store chairs purchased for $5-15 each that we painted in our favorite colors

• For both home or crafts Buy gallon size un-tinted latex/acrylic paint which costs less per ounce than small bottles of craft paint.
• Mix your own colors by adding colored craft paint to white paint.
• You can also purchase pigment to mix as much as you need for a project instead of buying a whole gallon of a certain color.
• Save food containers with lids (such as yogurt and cream cheese tubs) for mixing and storing paint.

Madoline’s closet bookshelf with rosy-pink wall.

• Slightly water down paint for more even application (except with oil-based paint). You may end up doing an extra coat, but will use less paint overall. I find thin coats of paint more attractive.
• Add water to keep leftover paint from drying up and store covered for several weeks. This paint can be used to paint matching decorations or mixed into new colors.
• Instead of throwing away or donating leftover paint as instructed on the can (they want you to buy more) hammer the lid back down and store in a cool place. If very little paint is left, transfer to smaller container to minimize evaporation.
• If you don’t want to use masking tape, carefully paint trims, edges, and corners of your walls with a small artist brush.
• Keep pets and children away from wet paint and be sure to have sufficient ventilation.

Homemade cabinets

Tags: acrylic paint, artistic, birthday, cabinet, cabinet making, cabinets, color, colored paint, colors, craft, craft paint, crafts, decorating, decoration, diy, diy painting, do-it-yourself, dog, dogs, favorite colors, frugal, Frugality, furniture, gallon size, hallways, Home, Home Decor, home decoration, home improvement, home painting, homemaker, homemaking, house, house painting, interior design, latex paint, lifestyle, mixing paint, mixing paint colors, oil based paint, paint, paint colors, paint storage, paint tint, painting, painting cabinets, painting furniture, painting walls, paints, pigment, pink wall, project, projects, save money, saving, saving money, saving on paint, savings, tennis balls, thrift store, wall paint, water down, wear and tear, white paint

Related Posts from Pecuniarities

• Frugal Thermodymics Part II: A Simple Cooling System
• The Frugal Art
• The Benefits of Deprivation: 10 Days Without Air Conditioning and Counting! Plus Tips for Staying Cool
• Economical Pet and Child Safe Ways to Repel and Kill Ants, Spiders and Other Insects
• A Few Tips for Protecting Your Identity Should You Lose Your Wallet

Did You Enjoy This Post?

Related Posts From Other Blogs

• Easy Home Improvement Projects
• How to Get Rid of Roaches - Cockroach Control
• Adopt a Webkinz Pet
• Save Money & Be Green - Give Old Furniture A New Lease On Life.
• How to Fix up an Amateur Paint Job