Stick to this tip

I've designed a little bit of everything, from apartments to homes with guest apartments. I've worked with limited budgets and some where the sky was the limit. From Beverly Hills to Beverly the hillbilly, my design portfolio is as unique as the clients I've worked for. One thing I have found in my strut around the design block is absolutely everyone has one thing in common when painting their home; they never know what to do with the paint after the project is finished. I recently staged a home for the real estate market and when I went hunting in the basement for paint I stumbled upon 32 cans of mismatched paint cans. Someone had made the effort to write what can went to what room, but the ink had been buried by paint and time. Another home I worked in last month had four shelves of paint marked with faded pieces of tape, unrecognizable to anyone. Now, in today's incredibly tech savvy world there are many ways to figure out what color is on your wall if, for example, you need a little touch up. Companies like Benjamin Moore and Standard Brands have created APPS for your iphone where you simply photograph a wall and the smart app will tell you the color, formula and where to buy it. I, too, was incredibly excited when I found this cool, FREE app, but quickly realized it wasn't perfect. Because the app relies on your phones camera to "scan" the wall (by taking a photo of it) if your flash is on, if the sun is shining too bright (or not) the phone will read a different color. So, despite the fancy dancy technologies of today, use this simple tip and you'll never have to wonder what the color is tomorrow. Any paint store will give you stir sticks for free. Grab as many as you can and after painting a room, slap some on the stick and write the color and color code (located on the sticker Home Depot, Lowes, etc. places on the paint can) on the stick. Tie them all together with a little bit of rope and hang them somewhere you won't forget! Next time you want to freshen up your abode, grab the stick and head down the road!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Five minutes
COST: Free
STRESS LEVEL: Doing it right the first time: LOW