Painting

Have you heard? Green is the new black! Well, I'm setting out to paint my house all shades of green. Eco-green that is. No more getting headaches from the odors and worrying about the toxicity I'm breathing in. The building industry has come a long way from lead paint, and I'm about to find out just how far.

My first search consisted of "green paint" and continued with variations using keywords "eco" and "VOC free". What I found was an entire world of alternatives to the stinky commercial latex we're all used to.

Even mainstream brands such as Sherwin Williams are now offering lines of VOC-free (volatile organic chemical) paint. However, these are hardly the safest. Paints now come in solvent-free, water based, milk or clay based.

I'd love to know which paints work best, how easy they are to apply, what colors they come in, ease of cleanup -- the list is endless. But, of course these products don't come with labels or Consumer Report ratings.

In an effort to set a baseline and help others in my place, I've decide to try out as many paints as I can. Having an entire house full of bare walls, I'll be experimenting from the most basic of paints to the creative alternatives. Stay tuned to keep learning!