This month’s area for decluttering is part of my loft. That part of my loft in which I keep old decorating materials.
And it’s a salutary lesson in not hoarding.
When you’re green-minded, it’s doubly tempting to hoard. I hate to put anything in the bin. My hand always hesitates as I think ‘Can’t I do something else with this?’
So, when I redecorate, I never want to throw out leftover decorating materials.
Now the consistency of putty
It’s worth storing some of it. Seeing a can of leftover emulsion from when my bedroom was decorated, I brought it down and painted over various marks on my walls. I’ve been meaning to do that for ages, particularly around the lightswitch where the wall was grubby with fingermarks.
On the other hand, I also found half a bag of grout and half a tub of Covertex, both of which are nearly solid.
I hoped that it might be possible for someone to reconstitute them. However my internet research says not.
What a waste.
Thing is, I put them up in the loft in the days before Freegle and Freecycle made it super-easy to find someone to use the stuff we don’t want/need anymore.
Another great way to move on unwanted paint is through Community RePaint, which redistributes unwanted paint to people in need. Its website has a postcode locator to help you find your nearest scheme.
Rock hard grout
Ah well, at least my legs will get a good workout as I cycle them up a big hill to the household recycling site.
The only decorating materials I’m storing from now on are things it would be hard to replace if I needed to do a repair, and which won’t come to any harm over time, like well-sealed cans of paint and leftover tiles.
Other than that, I’m moving on the leftovers as soon as the job is finished.
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