What is "Low-VOC" or "No-VOC" Paint?

Happy Weekend!

We are back with another guest post~ YAY!

Please welcome Alison. :)

Hi! I'm Alison from Making a McHome and I am so excited to be here today! Isn't Bonnie awesome!? Not only is she hosting me on her blog today, but she is literally hosting my husband and I in her own home this weekend- talk about generosity! 

Okay, so on to today's post... My husband and I bought our very first home a few weeks ago and we have been very blessed to have the extra time to paint- because it was a total MAN CAVE before! The guys actually painted ALL of the trim black and all of the walls dark dark colors. It looked really cool with their stuff, but that wasn't going to fly with us. Have you ever seen the Good Luck Charlie house? Yeah, I try my hardest to convince my husband into as much of that style as possible! (See our awesome chalkboard wall here.) :)

(You can follow our new home adventures on Facebook!)

So we are completely up to our elbows in paint and the green-momma side of me has been busy doing tons of research on paint. Have you ever heard of "Low-VOC" or "No-VOC" paint? If you don't know about them, listen up! This is very important information that affects the air you breath, your family's health, and our earth's ozone. AND I'm going to offer you a solution- my solution- at the end, so no worrying about it! Just take action. :) Sources: How Stuff Works and EPA

Eek! Do I have your attention? haha This is serious stuff! Half of these chemicals are released while you are painting (note: that bad paint odor-toxins you are breathing!) and the other half spend the next 6 years seeping into the air you breath! Yikes!

Ready to breath easy?

When we first bought our home I told Kent that I absolutely would not be painting unless it was low or no VOC paint- saving the money to afford them is worth it! Thankfully, stores have caught on to this want of consumers and you can buy the paint at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc... We bought from Sherwin Williams. I downloaded their SW Color-Snap app on my BlackBerry and fell in love!

If you sign up as a preferred customer, you receive coupons in the mail, discounts in store from the awesome sales people, and notifications about big sale weekends making it very affordable. Weare totally inviting our favorite consultant, Laura, to our Housewarming Party when we finally get moved in. They are so nice and helpful!

I am not being paid by SW at all. I promise. I haven't been able to convince them to pay me to take their paint yet, but I'm working on it! :)

To learn more about Sherwin Williams' green initiatives go here. I am truly impressed by them.

Everyone likes before and afters, right? (Coat of primer and Coat of paint, trim is only prime and keep in mind that furniture makes the room look bigger in the before.)

Well, we're more in the middle so take a look and don't forget to follow our McHome on Facebook and Blogger so you can get more helpful, green tips and see how it all turns out!

Thanks so much Alison! :)

By the way, do you LOVE her new house??  I do!

You can follow her and her new house here.

Have an awesome weekend!

Bonnie :)