Cleaning Up And Claiming Space

Earlier this year Hubby Tony and I discovered a small water leak on the living room ceiling right above the fireplace. The company hired by the condo management company attributed the issue to an ice dam on the roof that damaged the fireplace flashing. We weren't the only unit with a problem; the company had a crew on site and repaired the flashing issue that day.

After the repair, Tony and I let things simmer for a while to make sure the issue was really corrected, then Tony quarterbacked finding someone to fix the ceiling damage. The work was done by a friendly, efficient painter. He told us that after the repair was done he would have to touch up the paint on both the ceiling (which he would supply) and the top few inches of the wall right underneath the repair (which was on us).

When we moved in five years ago, the previous owner left extra paint for each of the rooms, so it was just a matter of finding the right can and shaking/stirring the components back together. There was a half gallon of paint, and at the end of the project I decided to keep just enough for touch ups. I poured approximately two cups of paint into a jar with a tight-fitting lid, then posted the rest of it on my Buy Nothing group. Two days later the can was gone.

It was great to have one less can of paint on the floor of the linen closet in the master bathroom. However, there was still several cans, and two five-gallon buckets in the laundry room. I thought it would be a great idea to get rid of the rest of the surplus paint. The buckets were more annoying, so I decided to tackle one of them first.

Today was the day. My plan was to keep a little pain and offer the rest to someone on Buy Nothing, so first I had to make sure it was still good. Because I am messy when it comes to anything involving paint, the first thing I did was change into sloppy clothes. I assembled my supplies in the laundry room-tarp, stirring stick, brush, and large rag. Ten minutes later my hands were covered in paint, and I had a large splotch on my leg, but the paint was well stirred. I used the brush to touch up a couple of spots in the office, decanted what I was keeping into a jar, then cleaned everything up.

Down the line I'll tackle the other bucket and recover a little extra space in the laundry room.

Five years ago today: Social Distancing Voting