My husband and I are painting the inside of our house and I am having such fun. I know that sounds a little bit, well maybe a lot, crazy. After all painting involves taping, drop cloths, strenuous manual labor, ladders, brushes, rollers, time, moving furniture, and living in general chaos until the job is done.
But I'm elated nonetheless. Here's why. The last time the inside of our house was painted (ages and ages ago), we had a contractor complete the task. The smell of the paint fumes made me so sick I had to move out and stay with family and friends until the smell was gone. It was almost six weeks before I was able to move back into my home.This time around things are entirely different. Not only am I able to stay in the house while it is being painted, I am able to wield a brush and roller to help paint it.
A lot has happened between our two painting adventures. I had Meniere's disease the first go around. Since then I have developed Fuch's dystrophy of the cornea, multiple chemical and food allergies, and fibromyalgia. All of these diseases are related to malfunctioning of the immune system. I was in so much pain with fibromyalgia that I was desperate to find a way to feel better. I learned that exposure to toxic chemicals contributes to all kinds of autoimmune diseases including fibro. So I got chemicals out of my home, stopped eating processed food that is full of harmful chemicals, and started eating real food rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients. I haven't had any fibromyalgia symptoms in over nineteen months. And as a bonus, my immune system in general has improved. My allergies are a lot better. I haven't had a Meniere's episode in two years. My vision is stable. I feel great.
So I was worried when we started planning to paint the house. We are retired now and have plenty of time to do the work ourselves. But I didn't want to rock the boat by risking exposure to paint. Fortunately, paint manufacturers have developed paint that is free of VOCs - Volatile Organic Chemicals. VOCs in paint, cleaning products, scented products, cosmetics and a host of other things people use in daily life are a huge contributor to all kinds of health problems. We bought three gallons of VOC free paint in different colors and painted three different test walls. I had no reaction at all. We have finished painting three entire rooms and I am zipping right along as healthy as can be.
Here are some quick tips that can make painting the inside of your home a little easier.
Buy paint that contains no VOCs. There are some paint products that say low VOC so make sure to verify that the paint you choose has absolutely no VOCs.
Gather all supplies before you start. Our list included: regular painter's tape, painter's tape with a four foot pull out drop cloth to use on the baseboards, an extension ladder, a step ladder, a step stool, three sizes of good quality brushes, disposable paint rollers, an extension roller pole, roller pans, drop cloths for the floor, and drop cloths to cover the furniture.
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| Painter's tape with a drop cloth attached works great on baseboards. |
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| An extension ladder helps with the high spots. |
Decide on a color scheme. Most companies offer brochures and online resources to help you pick out colors. We used a color palette sheet that shows a range of colors that work well together, got large paint chip swatches of the colors we thought we wanted to use, and painted test patches before buying all of the paint. The color palette sheet also has been useful for picking out accessories to go with our new look.
Prepare the room. Move the furniture away from the walls and cover with drop cloths. Put painter's tape around all baseboards, door frames, and windows. Take pictures off the walls and use spackle to fill in all nail holes. Wash the walls with a damp microfiber cloth. Bring your paint, brushes, and rollers to the room. Go!
For me painting my home has been a special blessing. Nineteen months ago I was too sick and in too much pain from fibromyalgia to even think about doing something as strenuous as painting our whole house. I am so thankful for health and energy and paint that is free from VOCs. I could share more but I've got to run. There are more rooms waiting to magically change color and I hear a paintbrush calling my name.
