Thinning the hoard: Let's paint some closets!

I recently read somewhere (not sure where) that latex paint only lasts about three years in the can. I don’t believe this 100%, as I’ve used paint older than that without any issues. But it did remind me that paint isn’t going to stay fresh forever, and maybe I shouldn’t be hoarding quite so much of it. So I decided to make an effort to start to liquidate (no pun intended) my hefty paint stash.

It’s kind of backwards having the paint, then looking for a place to use it, but let’s just go with it.

This was a brand new, never opened gallon of paint that I originally bought for the bathroom when we moved into this house four years ago. But I changed my mind about the color. The bathroom didn’t get painted. And then we later renovated the entire bathroom anyway.

It looks white here, but it’s actually a very faint aquamarine (Olympic’s Free Spirit).

First up in my “use up the paint” assignment: Elise’s bedroom closets. I never got around to painting them after we moved in, and they were looking dingy and worn.

The paint was chipping, there were cracks that need fixing and the baseboards were seriously banged up.

I promised Elise she could help paint, and then spent the next two hours clearing out the closet and prepping the walls (caulking gaps and cracks and cleaning up). Some kind of promise that was. I’m teaching patience, right?

I primed unassisted, and the next day, we painted. As you can see, she takes her painting very seriously. She stayed interested longer than I anticipated — upwards of 15 minutes!

A few coats later (by me)…

The color change is subtle, but it’s clean clean clean now.

My new choice for trim paint around here is this latex enamel. I’ve kind of fallen in love with this stuff. It dries so smooth and glassy! Looks like oil paint. I don’t think it’s labeled as low VOC, but the white has no smell to speak of.

Nearly all of the trim throughout our house was painted when we moved in, but for whatever reason, many of the door frames themselves weren’t. The trim around the doors facing into the room was painted, but the jambs were not. (Door jambs are those parts of the door frame that face inward toward the door where the hinges are attached.)

It looks crazy. I’ve challenged myself to slowly fix them one by one. Two down… a lot more to go.

I left the shelves unpainted because they were in decent condition. I don’t have plans to paint the doors anytime soon, so at least they have each other to talk to.

For completeness sake, I also painted this closet’s twin on the other side of the room. Done and done!

Now to get with the rest of the painting!