Wrapping up this week’s look at the mainstream manufacturer’s no-VOC flat paints, we have Benjamin Moore’s Natura.

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Welcome to the second in our series of posts on no-VOC paints.  Today we are reviewing Harmony, by Sherwin Williams. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, we began the work on our series of “So, Does It Work?” posts by painting an 18″ x 18″ patch of wall with Dunn-Edwards brand new low odor/no VOC line of paint, Enso.  Other than the comedy of me painting in heels and a chefs apron, while my p/t assistant Julia scribbled notes, everything went smoothly.  Read below for what we found out…

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This weeks guest blogger is David Johnson of Sidecar Furniture.   An accomplished craftsman, David is also a member of LA Box Collective, a select group of professional Los Angeles based furniture makers, committed to environmentally conscious design and production.

A green finish that meets today’s standards set by petroleum-based finishes can be a bit of a conundrum.  Mainstream furniture and cabinets are normally sprayed with nitrocellulose lacquers, varnishes, and the like.  Icky and stinky as they are they really protect the wood by basically coating it with a layer of plastic.

A few years back, water based polyurethane finished came out as a green alternative but, like anything new, they were slow to be accepted.  There were complaints that they were hard to work with and the color was off but the manufacturers listened and solved these problems while at the same time making these water based finishes even more safe for the environment.  A finish that I’ve wanted to try is Vermont Coatings Poly Whey, available locally in Southern California at Livingreen.  Polyurethane finishes do require some work to apply nicely so they add some cost to a project

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