The Paint Exchange

People always think of painting a room as a major project, but it doesn’t have to be.  In the middle of a recession, you probably can’t swing an overhaul of your bathroom, but you can paint it a soothing spa color.  New appliances and cabinets might be out for your kitchen, but a fresh color could make a huge difference.  Come by the shop and we can show you step-by-step how to undertake a simple, cost-efficient painting project.  We’ll even help you out with color choices.

A bedroom painted in "Uh-oh Blue."

Color should make you happy.  It should relax and soothe you, it should bring you joy and peace.  It should never, ever cause you stress. 

Yet so often we hear: “I hate picking colors.” 

“I can’t do this!” 

“Picking colors is overwhelming.” 

Part of the problem may be the fact that big paint companies offer literally thousands of color choices.  While this fact in and of itself is awesome and wonderful, when it comes to choosing a color to put on your walls, less can definitely be more.  Do we really need 1,300 blues to choose from?  Probably not.  A few great colors should be enough for most of us.  Keep it simple.

Seventy five million gallons, or 10% of all of the paint sold in the US goes unused EVERY year.  This paint is filling people’s garages, basements and closets.  It is the half gallon left over after painting the living room, it is the three test quarts bought before finding the right color for the kitchen, it is the full gallon that was bought because somebody over estimated the amount necessary to paint the bedroom. 

What happens to this paint?  Sometimes it is dried out with cat litter or paint hardener and thrown away.     Sometimes it just tossed, still liquid, into the trash where it seeps into the groundwater.  Most often it just sits, taking up space and collecting dust.  Why should this valuable raw material go to waste?  It shouldn’t and legally (unless it is dried) it can’t. 

Paint recycling is a new idea, but it is a vital idea.  It brings us back to the idea of wasting nothing, of making use of what we have and protecting our environment. 

What do I do for a living?  — I help people fill their houses with color, while making the Earth better and saving money.  Awesome.