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Green is… kinda overwhelming
By Kristen | May 23, 2008
Because I’m taking the summer off from school, my husband and I have decided that this is the summer we officially make our apartment into everything we’ve ever wanted it to be… starting with paint.
Even if I wasn’t the self-proclaimed eco-nerd I am, I still border on freakishly chemically sensitive. Cigarette smoke, Lysol, almost all perfumes, the detergent aisle at Target — all these things give me a stabbing headache. And the worst of all? Paint. The super painted the halls in my building and it was like going on a free dive: deep breath in, then hold it… hold it… hold it… until (gasp!) I got outside and could breathe the delightful city air again.
And after much searching (and sticker shock at how much some of these zero-VOC paints cost), I think we finally have a winner:
The Freshaire Choice paint, available at Home Depot for only a few bucks more than regular paint.
I’ll admit, I’m not exactly thrilled by their color palette; it’s a lot more muted than I would like, but I think that’s due to the no VOC1 colorants they use. I do like that it has a lifetime warranty and you can get three 2-ounce free samples in whatever colors you’d like. As for me, I just ordered Beckoning Sea, Delightful Daffodil, and Charted Voyage.
- I just realized I’ve used the VOC acronym twice now without explaining what it is. VOC stands for volatile organic compounds: basically, they’re the gases that give paint its paint smell. [↩]
Topics: Green is Gezellig, Life in Maison Gezellig |
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May 24th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Again our lives weirdly coincide: As soon as Tim gets back I’m making him take off a few days so we can paint our apartment in non-VOC paint!
May 27th, 2008 at 8:58 am
This is my summer to paint, too - albeit in fits & starts, since I’ll be out of town a lot. I looked at the Freshaire website, but was similarly turned off by their color palette. Is Benjamin Moore Aura paint non-VOC or just low-VOC. Whatever it is, it’s expensive! But oh, the colors… ;)
May 30th, 2008 at 10:08 am
The Benjamin Moore Aura paint is (I think) low-VOC. And definitely crazy expensive.
May 31st, 2008 at 1:13 pm