Weekend Project – How To Paint The Eco Friendly Way.

Since I started working from home back in October, I have been using our second bedroom as an office. While I love the freedom and the opportunity to work on many different things that working from home offers, working in the same drab room has really gotten me down lately. So this weekend, my wife and I decided that we would do something about it. We went out and bought a few small things at IKEA (sustainable and inexpensive stuff) for the office, I got a new smaller steel desk from West Elm, and I ordered a new Dell 23″ widescreen monitor. See, when you stare at a screen all day with only the cat to talk to, the more real estate you have to look at can make all the difference. But the biggest change we decided to make was to finally paint the office something more interesting than 3 year old off-white paint.

While out shopping, we wandered into Restoration Hardware and looked at their paint selection. After finding the perfect color, we decided not to buy the paint from them because they do not sell low odor and low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints. So I took the paint chip to OSH Hardware, who perfectly matched the paint color and gave me an option as to what kind of paint I wanted. Well, naturally I chose the low VOC, low odor, Green Seal certified paint from Dutch Boy. This paint did not cost me any more than the regular “really bad for you” paint, and it is much better for the environment inside our house. I took a brush and put a few small strokes up on the wall, and it acts no differently than regular paint either.

I am really excited about getting this office finished, as sitting in that room for at least 8 hours a day is really mind numbing when you feel as though you are working in a closet. Everything is in place now except for my new monitor (coming Tuesday, I think) and the paint, which I hope to get to this week or this weekend. Combined with the Cradle to Cradle certified chair I bought from Steelcase, I can finally feel like I have a real home office that is comfortable AND eco-friendly!

technorati: environment, eco friendly, paint

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4. Reduce, Reuse & Recycle – Turning An Old Window Into A New Mirror Part 1.
5. The Good Human Eco-Friendly Holiday Gift Guide.

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