Hi Kathy,

I’ve run into this myself and it surprised me at first.  You would think that taking most, if not all, of the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) out of paint would render it close to odorless.  In fact, VOCs are only part of the picture when it comes to paint odor, and I plan to explain a lot of why that is in another, more detailed post.  For now though, just know that many times smelly doesn’t equal toxic, and the paint is still probably relatively safe for your health.

However, since you are particularly sensitive to odors, you are best off trying to stick to no VOC paints that are specifically designed to have a low odor as well.  There are several choices out there for you, including Mythic Paint and good old-fashioned  Milk Paint, both of which work very well.  For my own personal projects, I have always used Farrow & Ball, since the odor is very minimal, and the paint itself is gorgeous with a very high quality.

If you have a sustainable design dilemma of your own, please drop us a line at info [at] theinteriorevolution [dot] com We’ll do our best to answer it!