PAINTING ON A TIGHT BUDGET – HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO

Sometimes, it’s just not in your budget to hire a professional painter to take care of all your painting needs. Maybe you just purchased your first home and all your savings went into the down payment and closing costs. Or, perhaps you inherited a piece of property but not the cash to maintain it. Whatever the reason, there’s no reason you can’t start updating your home to fit your needs and lifestyle even if you are broke!

Here are a number of ways to trim the budget and get your project started:

Check your local paint stores for mismatched paint. You may be able pick up paint for a steal. Better yet, check with some of the paint companies around town and ask if they have any paint sitting in their warehouse that they want to ditch. You might get lucky and pick up paint for almost free. Just be careful not to buy into an awful color just because it’s a good deal.
Go to your local paint recycling center and purchase recycled paint for a square deal. This is not my first choice for quality paint, but you will be able to freshen up your home until you can afford a better product.
If quality is important to you, buy a more expensive brand of paint, such as Benjamin Moore’s Aura, which will cover in one coat in most cases. This saves on product and labor. You might be paying upwards of $80 per gallon, but you’ll need about half of what it takes to apply two coats and think of all the time you’ll save.
Stick with lighter colors, one color and steer clear of big color changes. Dark colors can require primer and/or additional coats; same with big color changes. Sticking to one color will stretch the paint because you won’t end up with a bunch of partially filled cans and you can get by with one roller.
Paint one side of the exterior of your house each year. This locks you into a color, but what a better way to protect your investment and spread out the costs over time.
Hire a painter to paint your walls and ceilings only and save the trim work to paint yourself. Trim work is more expensive to paint than walls and ceilings.
Hire a painter for interior work in the middle of winter. The price for labor plummets during the off season.
If hiring a professional, make sure they are a reputable company that’ll stand behind their work.

It might be tempting to acquire a ton of bids searching for the lowest price. But, getting the cheapest paint job from a professional can cost you dearly if they mess up the project. Having to pay someone to fix a shoddy paint job can cost you more than double what you would have paid for the job done right in the first place. And, that’s on top of what you paid originally.

I wish you all the best with your painting project!

Nancy