Painting and pregnant

Ever since I can remember, I knew that pregnant ladies weren't supposed to be around newly painted rooms. Since we're painting nearly the entire house over a period of several weeks, that would have meant I was pretty much banned from the new place during construction. So I hunted far and wide for one of the new, non-VOC paints. (VOC stands for volatile organic compound - basically the stuff that's bad for you.)

I checked out Sherwin Williams, Home Depot and Benjamin Moore, which all carry non-VOC lines. But we finally settled on Olympic Premium from Lowe's. It's less than $25 a gallon, has very little odor, and has covered our white walls in two coats (with no primer).



The only place we'll probably use a stinky paint is in the bathrooms and kitchen, where we're looking for guaranteed durability and mildew resistance. In those places, we'll probably go with Valspar Kitchen & Bath paint. We used it for the apartment kitchen, and it covered amazingly in one coat. Plus, Consumer Reports gives it a high rating.

** Kudos to our friends Norah and Megan, who helped me paint up a storm last night. They rock!

***One more note about non-VOC paints: While some are marketed as environmentally-friendly, the Olympic line really isn't. But on the back of any paint can, you can find the VOC content in grams per liter.