Finding the perfect piece of furniture at a yard sale or thrift store can help you make over your house and furnishings, saving money and reducing waste at the same time. Often all that’s needed to renew something is a good cleaning and a new coat of paint, the only cost being your time.

But wait a minute, you say, paint is expensive.

It doesn’t have to be.

Gallons and gallons of latex and oil-based paints never get used, probably because we’ve been told to always get extra so we won’t run out in the middle and have to worry about matching the color (custom colors mostly). Many small jobs use less than a small can’s worth of paint, and yet we can only buy a full can, not just a tiny bit.

The next time you need paint or thinner, wood stain or oil finish, don’t buy new.

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