Once upon a time in Hollywood I worked for a celebrity diva who, basically, made me totally crazy every single day. Sometimes when she knew she'd been particularly nutty, she'd throw me a tiny bone like a Starbucks gift card or banana peel, hoping that would make me realize her absurd demands were somewhat reasonable. While she'd rarely pay a compliment in person, she always wrote incredibly thoughtful cards and thank you notes (I convinced myself it was a lovely servant she had locked up in her house somewhere, hired only to write sappy notes to people). One Christmas, after a particularly rough year, the diva handed me a card which read, "I love the way you paint your life." After I used it to light a fire and spent the tiny check inside on ill-fitting pants and man-makeup, I thought about that strange scribble in my card...
the way I paint my life. Hummm. Sure, I love to paint, but what was this nut ball talking about? Well, years later, here is how I deal with paint in my life. When I headed out to the guest house where we store our Christmas ornaments I noticed cans upon cans of half-empty paint, strewn around like abandoned coke cans in a refrigerator. So, I brought them inside and emptied the contents into plastic containers, adding a swatch of the paint to a sticker on the outside with the name of the room assigned to the paint color. Next time my life calls for a little paint I will know just where to find it!
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: five minutes
COST: $0
QUICK TIP: I love to repurpose old paint cans as cool, FREE storage solutions. After emptying their contents and cleaning them out, I remove the labels (especially with silver paint cans) and place several together on their sides attached by art puddy (used to keep dishes in place on shelves, etc.). Five cans (three on the bottom, two on top) make excellent desk organizers in your office, plastic bag storage in a laundry room or a perfect landing spot for gloves, scarves and other mud-room necessities in a hall closet!
