Blue, Blue, or Blue? A Palette of Eco-Friendly Paints

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I picked up some small cans of paint at Ecohaus. I'd narrowed down the color choices to a few shades of blue that I thought would coordinate with the tile nicely. We really liked one color, Porta Luca, but we were worried it was maybe a little dark, so I also got a can of Country Bay, for comparison. You can see here the paint test, with Porta Luca on the left. Matt and I both agreed this was the one! It picks up the dusky-cobalt in the tile, while also going nicely with the olive and light blue. It also goes well with the rest of the house--all the rooms make a statement with color.

The paint brand I got from Ecohaus was Mythic, a nontoxic, "ultra low odor" paint. According to the Mythic website, "Mythic paint is the only zero-VOC, zero-carcinogenic, premium quality line of latex paints available." And, after slapping a whole bunch up on the wall, then staring at the wall for quite some time, I have to say that never once did I even think that the house smelled like paint. And when I did think about the smell, that was when I realized there was NO smell. Seriously, none at all. Seems impossible, right? It made me feel good about the dog and kid wandering about during all this!

Sunset just did a page on fume-free paints, highlighting Mythic, as well as these brands:

• AFM Safecoat
• The Freshaire Choice
• Green Planet Paints
• Natura
• Yolo Colorhouse

Mythic also does custom color matches, so I ordered the bedroom and hall paints. Still need to pick the creamy accent color for the kitchen, so I'm headed back to Ecohaus soon!

Walls Go Back Up!

Last week the first stage of the electrical work was done by Boley Electric. After several days of ripping out more walls here and there, Brian started putting them back up, which, frankly, was more exciting than I anticipated. More than anything, it was just nice to have the kitchen feel like a real room again, and not some decades-old war zone. Plus, as a special Memorial Day Weekend gift to us, Brian moved the fridge back into the kitchen from the dining room. Now Wyatt and I can both eat at the table at the same time again!

Here's the main view of the newly-drywalled kitchen:

Here's the area where the fridge now goes, formerly inhabited by the oven, and far too many soffits. Without the soffits, the space seems huge!

Stepping out of the kitchen for a moment, the Solatube is now hooked up and brings so much natural light into the stair and hall--it's amazing!

A Vision of the Future!

Earlier today Brian posted some before-and-after photos of the demolition. Here's a super cool 3-D view of the future, created by Ray.

I can hardly wait!

Just A Reminder...

Demo Week Comes to a Close

Things are looking almost, well, clean. Except for all the dust, that is. All the cabinets, counters, flooring, and tile are out. Even the long-despised soffits are gone--hurrah! Here are a few photos from the current stage.

Just yesterday, all that cold, hard ceramic tile was in a heap on the floor:

No more pantry:

Today--not much left:


Soffit? What soffit? (Hey, is that the attic up there?)


Stay tuned! Next up: framing!

Out With The Old

If you've ever wondered how to get rid of the old insulation in your attic, then this is the post for you. Today we're having all the insulation "sucked" out to make way for new energy saving insulation. The insulation in millions of homes has been sitting in the attic for so long, that it's doing very little to prevent the obvious heat loss through the ceiling. Its been collecting dust and various kinds of debris, creating a potential fire hazard in a hot attic, not to mention the air contamination you'll certainly notice if you're ever brave enough to enter. Ridding the attic of this dusty, potentially hazardous situation and adding 10-12 inches of new blown-in insulation will result in very significant heating and cooling savings in the short and long-term. We'll post some pictures of the process later today, so everyone can see the process. In the meantime, check out Energystar.gov to see the potential for tax credits when upgrading insulation in your attic or throughout your home.

Photos: Demo, New Stairs, and More Demo

We are now on week two of the remodel! In the first week, Brian demoed the hallway wall, boarded up the stairway door in the kitchen, rebuilt the top stairs in the new curved alignment, and installed most of the Solatube. Today he started the demo of the kitchen! Here are a few photos of the first week.

Hallway--the wall's gone and it's all sealed up!


The stairway door in the kitchen is all boarded up:

In the hall, you can where Brian opened it up. The original chimney was to the right of what's left of the wall. Brian took out all the chimney bricks to open the space up.


Stairs: All gone!


New stairs!




Here's a view of the now very open stairwell, where you can see the Solatube in the ceiling:



Day 1 of the kitchen demo--lots of progress!


Luckily, we now have a kitchenette in our dining room:


Stay tuned for more photos as week two progresses!