Painting on a Budget

10 Tightwad Tips

By Tawra Kellam

One of the easiest ways to save money redecorating is to paint a room yourself. It can cost anywhere from $200 to $500 to have one room painted. Painting it yourself, you can do it for under $30. Here are some tips that we have used to save money painting:

1. Check your local hazardous waste recycling center for free or low-cost paint. I've painted many rooms and pieces of furniture just by checking their free paint section. I painted the entire exterior of our house for $45 using three of their low-cost, five-gallon buckets of brand-new but leftover construction paint.

2. Use an old sheet or spend $1 for one at a thrift store to use as a drop cloth. Sheets are heavier than the plastic drop cloths at the store and will last for many rooms of painting. Hang over a clothesline or fence to dry before folding and storing.

3. When removing the outlet and switch covers, put the screws back into the holes so they don't get lost. You can also put the covers and screws in a zip-top sandwich bag.

4. Line your roller pan by putting a plastic grocery sack or trash sack (inside out if it has writing on it) on the paint tray. Then you can just invert the sack when you're done and throw it away.

5. Poke four or five holes with a nail in the groove on the top of the can. That way the paint doesn't get stuck in the groove around the edge of the can and make a mess when you put the lid back on.

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