In spite of my husband’s request that we not paint this apartment, I just can’t help myself. The dining room was first on the list, and once I get the painting/decorating/prettifying bug, I can’t get rid of it. Luckily for me, Walmart recently asked the Walmart Moms to try Glidden’s newest offering: their no-VOC Brilliance Collection 2N1 Paint + Primer. Of course, I wasn’t a matter of if I should paint, but what to to paint.

I considered refinishing my Hooker Mainline desk, because the previous paint job has a little wear and tear. But I eventually decided to paint my daughter’s room, because I really hadn’t done anything with it in the months we’d been living here. I just plopped down her existing furniture and walked away.

Above, you’ll see the color I eventually chose: Bermuda Bay, a rich turquoise. But believe me when I say it took a LONG time to reach that decision. Believe it or not, I initially considered painting her room a soft lavender. Her room gets a lot of sun, and I initially wanted it to feel really light and airy — so much that I put up gauzy ruffled curtains to make sure the room gets as much light as possible. So I headed to Walmart to pick a color. I planned to get small test pots in a couple of different shades so I could see how each interacted with the light.

The problem? Walmart only offers testers in a very small selection of colors. As someone who has been burned picking paint colors from nothing but a swatch from the store, I would definitely recommend that Walmart offer small test sizes for any color a customer chooses. Because I was burned again this time.

Once I saw the available colors, I became a little indecisive. With no testers available, I took home a handful of swatches in various shades of purple, gray and even light green. I taped them to the wall in my daughter’s room and let them sit there for a full 24 hours so I could see them in the light of day and the nighttime shadows. But I didn’t like any of them. Not really. Here’s a closeup:

It was really hard to tell how they would look across large walls from just a tiny swatch. After going back and forth a few dozen times, I initially decided to go with one of the light green shades. It is the bottom right swatch in the image above. So I went back to Walmart to buy a gallon.

But once I got it home, I hated it. No. Really. HATED it.

When I opened the can, I decided to dip my brush in it before pouring it into my tray. I put a little on the wall so I could get a feel for it. The color was barely visible, wet or dry, as you can see in the photo below. Plus, it felt like day-glo instead of a happy, cheerful color. Burned by the paint swatch again!

Of course, this was partially my fault. When I decided to paint, I had no real plan for how I was going to decorate the room. I didn’t want to do pink again, like her last room. And besides that, this room is a lot smaller with a vastly different layout. My indecisiveness and overall lack of planning made it that much harder for me to choose the right color.

I couldn’t decide what to do, because I knew there was no way I was going to paint the whole wall in that unfortunate shade of green. So I did nothing for a few hours and watched my husband laugh at my moping. But thanks to the Internets (yes, I added an “s”), I found out that I could return the paint. I’m not used to this, because once you have a paint color mixed at Lowe’s or Home Depot, you can’t return it. So thank you for that policy Walmart!

I decided to return it, but had NO idea what color I would choose instead.The conversation inside my head went something like this:

A darker green, more lime than lemon? Maybe. Back to pink? Meh. Try again with purple? None of them really suit my taste. Blue? Well. Nothing else in her room is blue, so it would clash. But then again, nothing else is purple, either. Blue might work, but maybe more on the turquoise side. Oooh! Turquoise!

My daughter happened to have a pair of pants in a beautiful shade of turquoise/aqua sitting on the ottoman at the foot of her bed (you can actually see it in the before photo of the whole room above), and it was kismet. I immediately started picturing how the room would look with a turquoise accent wall with the gorgeous ruffled white curtains. My mind’s eye started editing other stuff: Recover the headboard in white, remove the green rug, jump for joy. It was coming together in my mind without even trying. So turquoise it was. And I took the pants with me the second time around to make sure I came home with the right color.

Returning the paint was a breeze, and the customer service rep didn’t even think twice about taking it. Thank you Lord. And Walmart, of course.

I happened to find a shade of turquoise that almost exactly matched my daughter’s pants. So I came home and painted, and the rest is history.

The paint performs beautifully, with no noticeable odor and great coverage on the first coat. I did a very thin second coat just to make sure I didn’t miss anything since I was painting the dim light of the lamp (it was nighttime). The paint is thick, probably because of the primer, so it rolls on like a dream with very little dripping or splattering. The price, just under $30/gallon, is comparable to other no- and low-VOC paints with primer (Behr costs a little more than $30). But the fact that I can return a gallon of mixed paint if I’m not happy with the color definitely gives Walmart the edge in this case.

And now that the wall is painted, I have some other ideas for her room. As you can see, I did reupholster her headboard with an old white Ikea curtain we had laying around. I didn’t tuft it this time, but the fabric has subtle lines in it that make up for the lack of buttons. I also made a new cushion to go on top of her Owyn toy box from Mod Mom. It will now serve as a bench at the end of her bed.

I also changed out her bedding, mostly because of an act of fate. Once I finally decided what I was going to do in the room, I really wanted to mix color and patterns. I tend to decorate in strict 3-color palettes: Ex. Pink, green and white (my daughter’s previous bedroom). Gray, white and yellow (my previous master bedroom). Blue, white and yellow (our current dining room). I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and do something a little more adventurous and globally-inspired. I walked into Target to grab a white, textured lamp shade to replace the pink and green one my daughter already had. I look across the aisle, and what do I see? A gorgeous turquoise bed set on clearance — sheets and all!

The colors and patterns were perfect, but I walked over just knowing it would be made of polyester. But as luck would have it, the entire set was made of cotton except the stuffing inside the comforter. It’s not organic, but definitely better than synthetic fabrics. Plus, the brown duvet cover in her old room just wouldn’t work in her new one. So I bought it.

And let me tell you — it made SUCH a difference in making the room look pulled together! I initially planned to repaint her pink dresser, but with this new bedding, I love the pink and turquoise together!

More importantly, Ja’Naya loves it too:

So within the next week, keep your eye out for more posts on projects I’m tackling to complete the room, including customizing her Ikea Malm dresser (finally). Plus, I have to do something about that horribly off-center window behind her bed. I’m feeling completely inspired, so I’m not going to stop until it’s done!

Thanks Glidden!

Why It’s Green:

• Paint with primer contains no VOCs

Price: $28.97/gallon (aff)

Disclosure: I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart has provided me with compensation for sharing Glidden’s new paint collection with you. Participation is voluntary and as usual, all opinions are my own. Check out what Denise at Wholesome Mommy, Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes and Lori at My Wooden Spoon did with their paint!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

I have known about American Clay plaster wall applications for quite some time, but I have dragged my feet on sharing it with you. I am all about low- and zero-VOC options when I want to change the color of my walls, but that usually involves some sort of latex paint. But clay plaster is a great alternative that also happens to be an environmentally sound choice.

It is zero-VOC, non-toxic and made in the USA, these plasters can give your walls depth and texture. They are traditionally seen as more of an alternative to cement, acrylic and lime plasters because of the application and the texture. It is designed to cover most wall surfaces, but they don’t recommend using it on materials that are prone to expansion and contraction with changes in temperature and moisture (like tongue and grooved paneling) or as a finish over ceramic tile.

What I have noticed is that the clay application tends to lend an Earthy, more rustic feel to space, and the American Clay color palette reflects that. But as you can see from the photo above, you can also pair it with modern decor for a look that has nice depth. They offer several finishes and 43 standard colors, but they can match almost unlimited colors.

The other great thing about this company is that their website provides an extensive set of online tutorials, explanations and resources so that even the first time user be able to get insight in the process, or even take a workshop from a local dealer or applicator. You can also find a professional applicator if you’re uncomfortable taking a DIY approach.

And if you’re still hesitant about buying after reading all their information, or if you want to try out a color or finish before you buy, small samples of their plaster are available from their shop. You can also reach out to them via Twitter and Facebook.

Why It’s Green:

• Clay plaster is a non-toxic, zero-VOC finish
• American Clay is dedicated to recycling and reusing content, maintains low-energy production standards to reduce energy consumption, and sources locally to keep fuel shipment costs low.
• Application contributes to LEED credits.

Price: Start at $55 for an 80-lb. bag of plaster. Many accessories, pigments and more also available for purchase.

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Before I begin this post, let me just say that I know there will be people who will hate what I did with the Mainline desk I revealed to you last week. I know that there are mid-century and wood purists who will say I ruined it and should’ve left it the way it was. After spending a few days with it, I decided I was OK with that, and I LOVE the after, whereas I only LIKED the before. So here goes nothing:

I initially planned to paint it white, but because I have other pieces in the room that are more of an “off white,” and I wanted a little more color in the space to complement the orange, my husband and I decided to paint it light blue. The color is difficult to see in the daytime, but I’ll post more pics of it once I put the computer back on it an redecorate the area. But can I just say that I LOVE it? Really. I can’t say that enough. The new chrome and white ceramic hardware really makes a statement against the blue.

The first step was sanding, and I left the heavy lifting to my husband. Thankfully, we recently invested in an electric sander, so the job took about an hour rather than days. After wiping it down thoroughly, we primed it with the new KILZ Clean Start zero-VOC, low-odor primer. Let me just say that this stuff is THICK. While we didn’t have any stains to cover, we did have a lot of wood to prime. Even with the thickness, it took about two and a half coats (the last was very light) to get the even coverage we wanted before starting with the blue. You can see how it looked after one coat in the photo below. I admit that I was a little peeved by this at first, since I was hopeful that a single coat of such a thick primer would be enough. My disappointment, however, was short-lived.

Scatterbrain that I am sometimes, we primed and began to paint the entire desk before realizing that we had forgotten to prime the drawers. And the lazy person that I am sometimes, I decided to paint the drawers sans primer. It was then that I truly realized the value of a good primer. The body of the desk took just two coats of blue for me to achieve the color I wanted. The drawers? Five coats of blue to match the color on the rest of the desk.

Just so you have an accurate picture, here’s one last before…

And after…

This may not have been the best project on which to test the power of KILZ, but I definitely plan to use it again when we paint our dining room, which has fallen victim to a summer full of kids’ careless hands and grubby fingers. I will say, however, that it had almost NO smell — even when I sniffed just inches from the paint tray. Assuming it covers odors and stains as well as every other KILZ primer on the market, which I have used in the past, I will definitely be switching to this version.

Want to try it?

The folks at KILZ are graciously giving one of my readers the opportunity to win a gallon of Clean Start primer to help with your next painting project. The winner will also receive a $100 Home Depot gift card. So how do you enter? Tell me how you’d use the primer and gift card if you won. Would you paint a piece of hand-me-down furniture? Give a room a quick makeover? Spill the beans for a chance to win!

Do this by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, July 30, 2010, to enter.

Want to enter more than once? Boost your chances of winning by completing one or more of the tasks on this list. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. If you haven’t already, sign up for Green Your Decor’s email updates by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, Friday, July 30, 2010. You must verify your email subscription to be eligible. Current subscribers must leave a comment saying that you are a subscriber to be entered.
2. If you’d prefer to receive your updates via RSS, sign up for the GYD feed. Then please leave a comment letting me know that you’ve done so, and be sure to include your email address.
3. “Like” Green Your Decor on Facebook and leave a comment on the wall. Then leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.
4. Follow Green Your Decor on Twitter. Then tweet about GYD or this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your tweet.
5. Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to your post.

You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, July 30, 2010, to enter. A winner will be chosen via Random.org and contacted via email. Good luck everyone!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a product review, and with good reason. I’m trying to be a lot more discerning about the products I review and present to you. This review isn’t technically of a “new” product, but one I introduced to you late last year: Bungaloo zero-VOC color liquid/paint. It is rare to find a paint company that offers base and colorant that are both zero-VOC. Mythic is the only other paint I”ve tested with this particular characteristic, and it performed really well. I was hopeful that Bungaloo would do the same, and I wasn’t disappointed.

After I wrote about the company, I reached out to them, hoping to find out for myself how the paint stacked up against other brands. I can tell you that Bungaloo is innovative straight out of the box. First, the paint isn’t sold in cans. It comes in plastic bottles, either in 40 oz. or 100 oz. As much as we try to avoid plastic packaging, I have to admit pouring from these bottles, which resemble laundry detergent bottles,  is a lot easier and less messy than pouring paint from a typical can.

I first received small samples of the colors I was interested in so that I could put a little on my walls and decide what color worked best. Trust me when I tell you that this is a great approach, particularly when buying paint online. Paint can look a LOT different on your walls than it does on your computer screen, or even in person at the store. The light and shadows in your room will affect the way the final color looks, so take the time to test so you won’t have to repaint because your gray has too much blue in it or your red is too bright.

My husband and I finally decided on two shades of yellow: In Bungaloo speak, that means Dominick (richer, golden yellow) and Caitlyn (paler complementary yellow). We initially planned to create some fabulous pattern on a feature wall using the two colors, but as you’ll see, we changed our minds. We wound up painting with just Dominick. We received a full painting kit, which included a 100 oz. bottle of each color, along with a painting tray, roller and cover, an angled paintbrush and a roll of blue painter’s tape. I, of course, forgot to take a photo of all this until after I’d already used them, but you get the idea. It was very handy to have everything I needed provided for me. Because we already had a drop cloth, all I had to do was line the tray with some aluminum foil so I’d be able to use it again, and start painting.

In our previous apartment, which is where we were living when we received the paint, we planned to paint our entire master bedroom yellow. But after painting too many walls in that rental, only to move out a few months later, we didn’t want to face the prospect of having to repaint all our rooms here when we move out. So instead we painted one full wall behind the bed, and a fun stencil treatment on the opposite wall, which you can see in the photos. I also painted an old, hideous gold mirror yellow. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about having accent walls, but now that it’s done, I’m really happy with the way the room turned out. If you’re wondering why there are no “before” pics, that’s because I forgot to take one. Yeah. I know. Bad blogger! But you’ll get to see another before-and-after of our master later today. I promise.

Now for the paint.

It is awesome! I painted the wall in my master with my daughter sitting 5 feet away on our bed watching a movie. I opened the windows just to be sure, but there was very, very, very little noticeable smell. Definitely the best I’ve ever tried in terms of odor. Again though, this is a completely VOC-free paint, with no VOCs in the base or the colorant. Coverage was also pretty awesome. I did a heavy first coat and let it dry for a few hours. Then I did a very light second coat, and it dried to a nice, even color.

Even though we chose the yellow when we were living in another apartment, the color turned out to be the perfect choice for this room as well. I’ve complained about the lighting situation, and even though there two windows in the room, those windows are both shaded for much of the day. The yellow really helps brighten up the space a lot, and when the lamps are turned on, the room literally glows. Overall, I was very, very impressed. We did sign a 15-month lease, so if we decide to paint any more rooms, I’ll definitely give Bungaloo another shot. Given that we have a full 100 oz. bottle of Caitlyn yellow that we haven’t used yet, I definitely see a furniture project in my future

UPDATE: Want to see our finished master bedroom? Click here!

Why It’s Green:

• Paints contain zero VOCs (both colorant and base are VOC-free)
• Bungaloo uses its marketing to support social causes, including green efforts

Price: $16.95-$27.95 for individual bottles in 40 oz. or 100 oz. volumes; $44.95-119.95 for kits designed to give you everything you need to paint a room

(review)

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

Once I got the painting bug and started putting some color on our walls, it really made me wonder how I had lived with bare, eggshell walls for so many years. So painting was the first thing my husband and I did before we moved into our new place. We’ve been buying Olympic low-VOC paint because it is so affordable (between $16 and 25 a gallon at Lowe’s depending on finish), but we’ve been looking out for other reasonably-priced brands. When I discovered Bungaloo, I knew I’d stumbled on something new and different.

Bungaloo doesn’t sell paint — they sell zero-VOC “color liquid.” If you ask me, that term is just a marketing gimmick, but it’s a pretty smart gimmick. I was still interested enough to check out their color palettes. They are trying to sell to the younger generation, and as such, the colors can be browsed in a variety of ways, including by decades (think early 80s or late 90s palettes) and by brightness (“fun” or “mellow”), and they’ve even taken their marketing to events like Caltopia and Bonnaroo.

And every appearance at a festival is linked to a social cause. For example, at Caltopia, Bungaloo provided a gigantic canvas and thousands of students painted a tree in shades of green, blue, and yellow. The first 1000 students who participated had a tree planted in their name in a region of the world that is suffering from deforestation.The students received a donation card from www.SeedOurFuture.org, and they could then register online and select where their tree would be planted.

I’ve got to get behind a company that’s thinking of new and creative ways to make eco-friendlier paints — um…color liquids — a part of popular culture.

Why It’s Green:

• Paints contain zero VOCs (both colorant and base are VOC-free)
• Bungaloo uses its marketing to support social causes, including green efforts

Price: $16.95-$27.95 for individual bottles in 40 oz. or 100 oz. volumes; $44.95-119.95 for kits designed to give you everything you need to paint a room

How I’ve Used It Myself:

Check out my review of Bungaloo paint and how gorgeous it looks in my finished master bedroom!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

If you’re trying to green your home and you want to start by painting, this is your lucky week.

Mythic Paint is offering offering two gallons of their awesome zero-VOC paint in eggshell finish in your color of choice and one gallon of primer to one lucky reader of Green Your Decor. This is a great way to start off your next decorating project on a green foot. So how do you win? Visit the Mythic website, then come back here and leave a comment about something you liked or learned about the company and what color you would choose if you won. Comments that do not answer both of these questions will be deleted. And don’t worry — you can change your mind about the color if you win. Do this by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, January 19, 2009, to enter.

Want to enter more than once? Boost your chances of winning by completing one or more of the tasks on this list. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. If you haven’t already, sign up for Green Your Decor’s email updates by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, January 19, 2009. You must verify your email subscription to be eligible. After you sign up, FeedBurner will send you a verification email. Please do not ignore it — your entry will be invalid if you do not verify. From now on, subscribers will no longer be entered automatically. This will help me avoid choosing a winner who is a subscriber, but who doesn’t necessarily want a specific prize. If you are an email subscriber and you want to be entered, please leave a comment saying that you are an email subscriber and interested in this giveaway.
2. If you’d prefer to receive your updates via RSS, sign up for the GYD feed. Then please leave a comment letting me know that you’ve done so, and be sure to include your email address. RSS subscribers are anonymous otherwise. This will let me know that you want to be entered in this giveaway.
3. Blog about GreenYourDecor.com and post a link to your blog entry here.
4. Stumble or give a thumbs up to any page at GreenYourDecor.com via StumbleUpon and post a link to your SU profile to verify your thumbs up.
5. Fave Green Your Decor on Technorati. Then come back here and leave a comment with your Technorati user name so I can verify it.

So that means every participant can receive up to 6 entries. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, January 19, 2009, to enter. U.S. mailing addresses only! A winner will be chosen via Random.org and contacted via email. Good luck everyone!

Want more?

• Read my review of Mythic Paint
• Win a gallon of Olympic zero-VOC paint

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part three in a series of reviews of three eco-friendly paint options. Lots of companies are now making paint like this. Some are from companies that make traditional paint, but have added a low-VOC line. Others are from companies that were founded on the principles of sustainability. Either way, what you really want to know is how well they perform. How many coats does it take to get good coverage? Read on to find out how Olympic did.

Olympic Premium Zero-VOC Paint

Olympic developed a zero-VOC paint, and it is apparently standard, as opposed to a separate line. In other words, their standard premium interior paint is now zero-VOC and low odor before colorant is added. My color of choice was interior flat in “First Light,” a very pale blue. The colorant did contain VOCs, so the resulting paint was low-VOC instead of zero. When we moved to Tennessee, we painted three walls in our bedroom this color.

Coverage

We had a gallon of paint to work with and three walls to cover. The color in the can was a beautiful pale blue and perfect match to the color of the swatch I selected it from. When we began painting, however, it looked almost white. It was hard to tell there was any blue in it at all. It did dry darker, so while the blue is still paler than I would have liked, it isn’t almost white. This is a good example of why you should always try to get a paint sample and put it on your wall before you make a final decision on your color. If I had done that, I would have gone a few shades darker. The coverage was excellent, however. After a coat of primer, it required only one coat and a few touchups. We went over it in a couple of places more than once simply because the color was so light when wet that it was hard to tell which parts were well-covered. Even after painting all three walls, we still had a little less than a half-gallon of paint left. Although the room was small, I was still impressed that the gallon went as far as it did.

Odor

I was very impressed by the almost non-existent smell of the Olympic paint. Even with a colorant that contains VOCs, the smell was minimal at best. We closed the window in room as we were painting when night fell and the room started to get cold. It was no problem at all. There was almost no smell — no gagging, no gasping for air, no covering our noses. The same was true for the Olympic primer. It was awesome! An added bonus? The paint and primer are also Green Seal certified.

Colors

The paint is available in all 1,200 of Olympic’s colors, so selection is not an issue. I received a color book from which to select my color, and I had a tough time only because there were so many colors to choose from. Again, I would recommend trying a paint sample on your walls to see how it will look once it dries, no matter what paint you use.

Availability & Price

Lowe’s carries Olympic paint, and as one of the largest home improvement chains in the nation, that means it should be pretty easy to find. This is a plus, in my opinion. Although buying paint online is an option, buying paint in person is a better idea. Colors are often not the same on-screen as they are in person, so an up-close inspection is your best bet at getting accurate color. Olympic paint is also very affordable at between $16 and $25 a gallon depending on finish.

Overall Performance

I really liked Olympic paint. It went on the walls well, offered great coverage and had almost no smell. In fact, I liked it so much that when I needed an accent color for my daughter’s room, I headed straight to the nearest Lowe’s to pick up a pint of Olympic, and I also wound up buying a gallon of semi-gloss to paint some furniture. It offers awesome performance for the price, and it was easy to find. I’d definitely use it again.

UPDATE: We liked this paint (and it’s great price point) so much that we’ve used it in several room and projects since. See it in the dining room of our last apartment and my daughter’s vibrant, eco-friendly bedroom (on the accent wall AND the low pink dresser). We’ve used it elsewhere too, but I don’t have pics!

Why It’s Green:

• Contains no-VOCs (without colorant)
• Very low odor
• Carries a Class A Green Seal certification

Price: $16-25/gallon

More Paint Reviews:

• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 1: Elements by California Paints
  
• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 2: Mythic Paint

WANT TO WIN?

Olympic Paint is offering one gallon of zero-VOC paint and primer in your color and finish of choice to one lucky reader of Green Your Decor. If you want to start the new year with a new look in your home, this would be a great, eco-friendly start. So how do you win? Visit the Olympic website, then come back here and leave a comment about something you liked or learned about the company and what color you would choose if you won. Comments that do not answer both of these questions will be deleted. And don’t worry — you can change your mind about the color if you win. Do this by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 14, 2009, to enter.

Want to enter more than once? Boost your chances of winning by completing one or more of the tasks on this list. Please leave a separate comment for each entry:

1. If you haven’t already, sign up for Green Your Decor’s email updates by 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 14, 2009. You must verify your email subscription to be eligible. After you sign up, FeedBurner will send you a verification email. Please do not ignore it — your entry will be invalid if you do not verify. From now on, subscribers will no longer be entered automatically. This will help me avoid choosing a winner who is a subscriber, but who doesn’t necessarily want a specific prize. If you are an email subscriber and you want to be entered, please leave a comment saying that you are an email subscriber and interested in this giveaway.
2. If you’d prefer to receive your updates via RSS, sign up for the GYD feed. Then please leave a comment letting me know that you’ve done so, and be sure to include your email address. RSS subscribers are anonymous otherwise. This will let me know that you want to be entered in this giveaway.
3. Blog about GreenYourDecor.com and post a link to your blog entry here.
4. Stumble or give a thumbs up to any page at GreenYourDecor.com via StumbleUpon and post a link to your SU profile to verify your thumbs up.
5. Fave Green Your Decor on Technorati. Then come back here and leave a comment with your Technorati user name so I can verify it.

So that means every participant can receive up to 6 entries. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST on Wednesday, January 14, 2009, to enter. U.S. mailing addresses only! A winner will be chosen via Random.org and contacted via email. Good luck everyone!

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part two in a series of reviews of three eco-friendly paint options. Lots of companies are now making paint like this. Some are from companies that make traditional paint, but have added a low-VOC line. Others are from companies that were founded on the principles of sustainability. Either way, what you really want to know is how well they perform. How many coats does it take to get good coverage? Read on to find out.

Mythic Paint

Mythic is unique in that it is a paint company that carries only zero-VOC, non-toxic, low-odor paint. For me, at least, this created the expectation that they would be the best in the business. I recommended Mythic Paint in many of the rooms in my Green Rooms in a Box series because of this expectation. I also love knowing that buying their products means supporting a company that takes sustainability very seriously — it is their lifeblood. My color of choice was interior flat in “Piquant Pink,” a color that is reminiscent of cotton candy. We painted my daughter’s room a combination of this color and a deep orange from Olympic paint.

Coverage

We got fancy in my daughter’s room and decided to paint some stripes in white and orange in addition to the pink. This meant a lot of careful measuring and taping before we even cracked a can of paint open. This also meant there was little room for mistakes with the one gallon of pink we had to work with. As it turns out, we had nothing to worry about. Mythic Paint went on smooth and fast, and we would have been OK with just one coat if we chose to. We chose to go over with a second coat only to make the finished color a little darker. The coverage was even and the paint barely dripped or splattered as we were rolling it on. We painted all the walls except for one large stripe in orange and two small ones in white (shown in the photo below), and we were still left with about a third of a gallon of paint.

Odor

My expectations for Mythic were high in this category. After all, if low-odor paint is all you make, it stands to reason that this should be an area they excelled in. Thankfully, my expectations were met. While I wouldn’t call it “no-odor”, the smell was very minimal. We painted the whole room without even opening a window, and the door was also closed for much of the time, although the vents were open for air circulation. My mother-in-law says she could smell it, but my husband and I could barely smell it at all. So from my personal perspective, it lived up to Mythic’s low-odor claims. This was true for the primer as well.

Colors

Unlike a lot of other companies who make low-VOC paints, Mythic’s colorants are also free of VOCs, so the entire paint is zero-VOC. This makes the 1,200+ color palette even more impressive. I was, however, a little wary of selecting my color online. I need not have been concerned. It was very true to the screen color, and I wound up with exactly the color I was looking for.

Availability & Price

Mythic is sold by independent retailers across the nation. You can use their dealer locator tool to find one near you using your zip code. I searched a couple of zip codes, and it looks like the brick and mortar buying options are limited right now, as only a few paint dealers are carrying it. But you can also purchase Mythic Paint directly from the company’s website, which is a feature that’s sometimes tough to find in the paint industry. This means that even if you can’t find a local dealer, you can still take advantage of Mythic’s great performance. It is, however, the priciest of the three eco-friendly paint options I tried. You definitely have to work Mythic into your budget at the beginning of a project.

Overall Performance

Mythic was am impressive as I expected it to be. It comes with a premium paint price point, and it lived up to my expectations of a premium paint. The coverage was great, the odor was minimal and I love the values that the company stands on. Mythic would likely be my first paint of choice for future projects, although I’d definitely have to consider the cost before making a final decision.

Why It’s Green:

• Contains no-VOCs (without colorant)
• Non-toxic
• Very low odor
• Company specializes in eco-friendly paints

Price: $41-63/gallon

More Paint Reviews:

• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 1: Elements by California Paints
• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 3: Olympic Paint (+Giveaway)

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Paint is an interior decorator’s best friend. It is an easy, fairly inexpensive way to completely change the look of a room, and it can be changed easily if you don’t like it. Not so long ago, painting a room meant making sure it was extremely well-ventilated, and resorting to the fact that you had to give yourself a couple of days to let the smell dissipate. The unseen consequences of that smell were the offgassing of toxic chemicals for weeks after painting and the release of ozone-depleting gasses into the air. In fact, paint is one of the biggest contributors to poor indoor air quality. So if you’re an eco-savvy decorator, it is imperative to use paint that has either no- or low-VOCs and is non-toxic.

Lots of companies are now making paint like this. Some are from companies that make traditional paint, but have added a low-VOC line. Others are from companies that were founded on the principles of sustainability. Either way, what you really want to know is how well they perform. How many coats does it take to get good coverage? I had an opportunity to review California Paints’ no-VOC Elements line, Olympic Paint’s low-VOC line and the non-toxic, zero-VOC Mythic Paint, and all paints are not created equal. To level the playing field, all walls were primed before painting.

California Paints’ Elements

California Paints developed a line of paints called Elements, which are billed as being completely odorless and VOC free. It also has a germ-fighting component called Microban, which is an anti-microbial additive. I received a pint of the interior flat finish paint to try. My color of choice was “Chihuahua,” which is a deep, rich tan. The colorant did contain VOCs, so the resulting paint was low-VOC instead of zero. When we moved to Tennessee, we painted our bedroom, with one accent wall in this color.

Coverage

We were only working with a pint of paint, and I was a little worried it wouldn’t cover the whole wall. Even after priming, darker colors often require more than one coat, so we really went out on a limb in hopes that we’d have enough paint. We laid on the first coat pretty thick, and that really did the trick. We only wound up touching up a couple of areas with the roller, and we wound up with a nice, even coat with no bare or light spots. And unlike a lot of paints, the color in the can was very true to the color on the wall. It dried only slightly darker, and that was a good thing. My husband and I were really happy with the coverage.

Odor

This is where the Elements paint fell short. Considering that the paint is marketed as being completely odorless, I was surprised and disappointed to open the can to a strong, distinctly ammonia-like smell. It was actually pretty overpowering. We were working in a small room with only one window. Even with both the window, door and vents open, the smell was very strong. Much stronger than I would expect from a no-VOC, or even low-VOC paint. The smell also lingered for about 4 days after we painted, though it was less noticeable as the days passed. If all of this smell was a result of the colorant, California Paints needs to work fast to develop a no-VOC option. However, Elements finishes are LEED compliant, and can earn you indoor air quality credits under the indoor environmental quality category.

Colors

The Elements line is available in a huge variety of colors via California Paints’ Perfect Palette color center. You should easily be able to find a color that fits your taste and decor needs. However, you should definitely keep in mind the fact that you’ll be adding VOCs to the mix by adding color.

Availability

Elements is sold by a small selection of paint dealers. You can use the company’s dealer locator to search for a dealer in your area. However, even in a city as big as Atlanta, there was only one dealer who carries the California Paints. I didn’t search the whole country, but I suspect that California Paints products aren’t as widely available as other paint brands.

Overall Performance

As much as I loved the one-and-a-half coat coverage, even for a dark color, I was really turned off by the smell. There is a reason that low- and zero-VOC paints are near odorless. The smell indicates the presence of chemicals, much like the smell of a new vinyl shower curtain indicates the presence of chemicals there. I know it’s not exactly a scientific indicator, but barring extensive air quality testing, that was my impression. I would reconsider if a no-VOC colorant is developed, but otherwise I would probably use another paint.

Why It’s Green:

• Contains no-VOCs (without colorant)
• LEED compliant and can earn you indoor air quality credits under the indoor environmental quality category

Price: $35-40/gallon

More Paint Reviews:

• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 2: Mythic Paint
  
• Battle of the Eco-Friendly Paints Pt. 3: Olympic Paint (+Giveaway)

© 2008-2011 Green Your Decor. Do not republish any items from this feed without permission.

When it comes to furniture rehabilitation, I am still in the imagination phase. I love daydreaming about finding some awesome piece of furniture sitting by the side of the road. Sure it may be rusted and dinged up — a lot of TLC and a little spray paint would be all it needed. After all, even I know that I handy can of spray paint is the trash digger and thrift store shopper’s best friend. The problem? Spray paint isn’t exactly good for the environment, spewing all those nasty chemicals into the atmosphere and whatnot.

Thanks to Apartment Therapy, I found an alternative that is much easier on air quality. Krylon’s H20 Latex spray paint is water-based, non-toxic and low-odor. I still wouldn’t recommend using it in a closed room, but it is a much better option than traditional spray paint. It also claims to contribute 55% less smog to pollution than most solvent-based paints.

Since reclaiming and reusing furniture that might otherwise be destined for the landfill is one of the best things you can do for the environment, be sure to add another notch in your green column by refinishing said furniture in the least toxic way possible. If painting an ornate mirror frame by hand with a gallon of low-VOC paint doesn’t sound like a fun time for you, now you can go the easy route without feeling guilty about it.

Why It’s Green:

• Low-VOC and low-odor
• Water-based
• Non-toxic
• Can be cleaned with soap and water when wet

Price: $4.99 at Amazon. $3-$6/can from various retailers. See the Krylon retailers list. I have found it at Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Walmart. Be sure to call ahead to your local store to make sure they have the H20 line in stock. (aff)

How I’ve Used It Myself:

• Thrift store lamp makeover
• Sunburst mirror makeover and tutorial

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To say that it makes me happy to find natural interior paint that is non-toxic would be a serious understatement. I’m like a kid in a candy store when I find products like this. I get excited and immediately want to try a little bit of everything. And with good reason…

Green Planet Paints is a company that uses natural mineral (clay) and plant-based ingredients to make their matte-finish paints. It is also great to find a paint manufacturer that goes beyond one green product in their whole line — they support a complete culture of sustainability and do their share. See below for some of their green practices. Their paints are also made in the U.S. (in a wide variety of colors, might I add), so there are fewer worries about the distance your paint purchase must travel to reach you. If you wish, you can also try to find a dealer in your area.

Why It’s Green:

• Uses a soy-based alkyd resin and mineral pigment largely based on clay to create their products
• Because of the natural composition of the paints, they contain no VOCs
• Paints made in U.S. in small batches to minimize waste
• Green Planet Paints works with organizations like SEAHBS (Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services) that do workforce training with mentally disabled adults to assemble their marketing materials
• Company will help customers make their own paint from scratch if they so desire

Price: $41.50/gallon

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Paint inspires me. Not the smelly, toxic, dizziness-inducing paint that most of us are used to. I’m talking about the low- and zero-VOC paints that come in a tremendous color palette, able to satisfy even the pickiest decorator. And when it comes to painting a nursery or child’s room, non-toxic paint should be more than a fleeting desire: it should be a requirement…and absolute must.

The versatile Serena & Lily low-VOC, low odor paint collection will meet your qualifications. You will have no problem finding your standard pinks and blues, but the range of soft greens, chocolate browns and lots in between will give you lots to choose from. So your baby won’t have to suffer for style. And that, dear readers, is the bottom line.

Why It’s Green:

• Contains very low levels of VOCs
• Emits low odor

Price: $45/gallon

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It’s great to see so many of the companies that we know and love rolling out products that we can use with our children in or pets in the room without worrying about harmful odors or offgassing. It’s even better to find companies that were built on these principles from the start. 

Because toxic gases can leak from paint for up to six years after application, there is much more to consider than whether you’ll have to open all your windows while painting. It can affect your indoor air quality long after the paint dries. Mythic Paint, available in a dizzying array of colors, is classified as a zero-VOC paint and also has zero toxins and zero carcinogens.  This means that it won’t hurt you, or your children, or Fido, and it won’t release any gases or substances that will hurt the ozone layer.

For the discerning decorators out there, Mythic Paint comes in a 1,232-color palette, and they can and will mix any color from any competitor or from your imagination. All you have to do is ask. They also offer all sheens, from flat to high gloss, ceiling paint, interior drywall primer, and a unique interior/exterior multi-purpose primer.

Why It’s Green:

• Contains zero harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds)
• Contains zero toxins and zero carcinogens

Price: $38.99-59.99/gallon

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Since painting is one of the easiest ways to spruce up a room, I want to give you lots of environmentally-friendly options. Pure Performance from Pittsburgh Paints was the first paint to receive the Green Seal Class A Certification for meeting environmental standards. It is a Zero-VOC paint collection that has very low odor, so there will be no need to send the kids and pets packing when you get ready to paint. It is also certified as a top quality paint by the Master Painter’s Institute. It is available in primer, flat, eggshell and semigloss for all of your painting needs, and best of all it tints to all of the 1,890 colors available in Pittsburgh Paints’ Voice of Color System. So you can literally find almost any color on the spectrum.

Why It’s Green:

• - Zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
• - Mold and mildew resistant

Price: $26-35 per gallon. Find a retailer.

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AFM Safecoat zero VOC paints are premium quality, fast-curing paints designed for interior surfaces. They are designed for optimal indoor air quality and minimize exposure to toxic chemicals. Safecoat® contains no formaldehyde, ammonia, acetone, heavy metals or other VOCs. Their products are structured to seal surfaces (wood, metal, concrete, carpets, and more), which helps to reduce “offgassing,” or the emission of toxins into your environment.

Price: $38.90/gallon. Or you can find dealers in your area

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