Painting a Bedroom-the Healthful way
Thinking of painting a bedroom? It’s really not hard to do and can be fun creating the transformation! If you’ve never painted a room before, you can give it a try by following the easy instructions below.
While most paints cure within about 4 weeks, some paints continue to off-gas for many more weeks or months, up to a year. The chemicals in standard paints are harmful to human organs and can be especially toxic to the brain, and some are carcinogenic. The greatest danger is during the painting process and for the first few weeks after painting. Always make sure you have good ventilation while painting unless you are using completely non-toxic paints. Wearing an appropriate mask (that filters out VOC’s) might be worth considering especially if you do a lot of painting or want to minimize chemical exposures. If you start to get headaches or feel dizzy while painting, or from paint exposures, this can be a sign that it’s negatively affecting your brain. Get away from the area and get some fresh air until you feel better. Non-toxic paints are the safest and best to use. They are usually made of natural substances such as oils, resins, clays or plant dyes. They will not contain any harmful or toxic chemicals. On the other hand, low VOC or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) type paints are less toxic than standard paints but can still off-gas harmful chemicals. When all is said and done, however and the paint is dry, experts state that paint does not contribute much to indoor air pollution. Carpets and vinyl shower curtains contribute substantially more. But if you’re trying to cut down on chemicals, paint is just one more thing you can choose to improve the health of your bedroom.
Semi-gloss or satin finish paints have a little bit of shine or sheen to them when dry. Gloss paints have a lot of shine to them when dry, and stand up well to humidity. These are often used in bathrooms. Also easy to wash and durable. Flat paint or semi-gloss are probably the most common choices for bedrooms. The semi-gloss or gloss paints can be good especially for
kids rooms
because it can be cleaned more easily than flat paint. However flat paint can be washed too, but in my experience tends to wear off a little easier and sooner than the gloss paints.
*Begin by purchasing a small can of the chosen paints so you can try them on either a part of the wall in the room, or on a sample board that is at least 3 feet by 3 feet in size.This will give you a much better idea of how the paint will actually look in the room. A friend suggested that idea to me and I have done it and saved myself a lot of time and aggravation. Sometimes a color will look much lighter or darker, so this can really help you in deciding which shade is best. It works much better than trying to use a small 3inch by 3inch color swatch from the paint store! *Another tip I have found extremely helpful is to use the flat-pads for paint application (one brand is Shur-line pads) instead of the typical rollers to apply paint. Rollers are just too messy for me and despite my best efforts, paint gets splattered and I get pretty splattered too in the process! Using these flat applicators works so much better, so give them a try and you’ll be amazed at how well they work. They also come in very small sizes too which make painting around windows and trim a breeze.
Large plastic drop cloths work well at covering larger items while painting and protect the floor or carpets from accidental spills or splattering. Supplies needed:
Apply paint in broad strokes overlapping slightly until all areas are covered. I usually work starting top to about half-way down the walls all around the room first. If a ladder is needed it then gets all the “ladder-work” out of the way first. Then I can do the rest standing. Don’t worry if the paint looks uneven as it dries if you’ve tried to apply equal amounts of paint each time. This is usually due to different areas drying at different times. A second coat of paint can be reapplied in about 2 to 3 hours.
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