I don’t know many people who move into a new house and don’t paint at least one room, if not the entire house, within the first few months of moving in. Even once you’re settled in a house, there’s always projects and there’s always women like me who look at their husband sitting beside them one night and say, “You know, I think we should paint this room.”
Before we moved into our new house this past March, we knew we had a ton of painting ahead of us. It wasn’t that the colors were something we simply didn’t like, some of them were actually quite hidious. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this photo of one of the bedrooms.
No offence if you happen to like this combo of blue and yellow walls, a sun wallpaper border and sun/moon stamps on the walls (let’s not even discuss that floor!) but for us, it was a little much. There were 3 rooms in particular that needed a new look promptly after moving in, and the team at Benjamin Moore offered to help us out!
I was introduced to Sonu Mathew, Senior Interior Designer with Benjamin Moore and she helped me decide on the colors for the children’s bedroom (the disaster above), the kitchen, and the downstairs rec room.
Sonu asked me a series of questions about each space to help get a better feel for what would work. What would the space primarily be used for? What feeling did I want the space to project? What colors did I tend to favor and what colors were a definite no? Through several phone calls and emails, Sonu helped me make some great choices. (Check out her fabulous blog Living In Color With Sonu here!)
Because I have two small children at home, Sonu and the team at Benjamin Moore suggested I check out their Natura line of paint products.
What makes Natura by Benjamin Moore different? First of all, this paint has zero VOCs which is hugely important when painting a house with children inside. VOCs (volitile organic compounds) are hazardous to your own health, but especially to little children who have lungs that are still growing! The US Environmental Protection Agency rates it among its top five environmental hazards! Wow, and we’ve been using VOC paint in our households for years!
VOCs, which contain among other things formaldehyde, has been linked to respiratory conditions, eye and skin irritation, headaches, nausea, etc. You know, the basic effects we have come to expect after painting right? Once the paint has dried, and the smell seems to have disappeared, there is still a concern about “off-gassing” of these chemicals. Doesn’t this make you shutter, those who have recently painted a nursery or children’s bedroom? In the past I KNOW I have not used a zero VOC paint.
Many paint companies have produced products that have low VOCs and some have also produced paint that has zero VOCs – until color is added. You see, while the company can say their paint has zero VOCs, they don’t mention that VOCs are in the color tinting you add to the paint to get that perfect hue. So, your zero VOC paint isn’t so family friendly anymore.
Natura by Benjamin Moore has zero VOCs in the paint even after color is added! Horray! We were so eager to try out this paint. I knew from speaking with several friends and family members who have tried Benjamin Moore paints in the past that the quality is amazing, so to have excellent quality and a safe paint for our household seemed perfect.
And you know what? It is. Our house doesn’t reek like paint (as promised it’s virtually ordorless, no kidding!) and it looks fabulous! I can’t wait to share our kitchen, children’s bedroom, and rec room renovation experiences with my readers! Stay turned during the Fabulous Home Reno Event for a feature on each one, complete with which Natura by Benjamin Moore colors we used, Sonu’s tips, and my thoughts!
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