Home Renovation Update in Pictures + Tips for Buying Healthy(er) Paint

By Lindsayleighbentley @lindsayLbentley

Lord have mercy my friends.  Have I mentioned that playing general contractor on this home renovation is a full time job?  Yep.  Full time.

In the beginning I naively thought that there were probably about 50 decisions to make.

HA!  If only.

{Oh, and this is what happens these days when I say “smile for a picture!”  My poor kids are loosing it, too.}

In reality each of those 50 decisions has 50 sub-decisions, and each sub-decision has about 10 sub-sub-decisions. (Hey, if bootylicious is a word, so is sub-sub-decision.)

We plan on moving in a month. A MONTH!  Y’all.  It’s about time.  I’m thrilled!

Oh, and we’ve found this amazing paint that Sherwin Williams carries called “Harmony” that’s not only VOC free, but actually absorbs VOC’s from the air and eliminates them. Read more about Harmony Paint HERE.

Say Whhaaaat??

Yep.  I’m so excited!  They gave me a few gallons to try out for you guys and I absolutely love it.  While I can’t “prove” that it works, It does have a noticeably weaker smell than other paints.  And even though we are doing this renovation as healthfully as possible, there are still VOC’s present from glues, appliances, new furniture (which we don’t have much of…but that’s for another post!) thin set, caulk, spray foam insulation, etc.

So, I love that this paint is helping to eliminate those toxins!  We are using it on the ceilings and drywall.  The trim and wood walls had to be painted with a low-voc option for durability.  I have this amazing air purifier that I will use to help and the Harmony paint will serve as an additional source of cleansing!  Plus, the best thing about having new windows installed is that I am able to keep them open as much as possible to air the house out both before we move in and during the months when the weather is nice.

It’s so lovely in Nashville in the spring.  I grew up in the desert so this part of the country is just magical!

Ok, so, here are some progress pics.  I hope you love them! We couldn’t be more excited!

Our {soon to be} beautiful den.  Once everything is painted and we get the brick washed and repaired it will be wonderful!  This huge fireplace was one of the first things I saw when we looked at this house, and one of the main reasons that I wanted to buy it.  There is even a kettle hook inside!  You know I’ll be using that this winter!

These beams were dark and dingy.  We decided to paint them a shade darker than the walls to keep everything light and airy, especially considering the 8’ ceilings.This window is where a door used to be…and the patio doors were put in where some windows used to be.  We had a deck with no covered access to it, and a door that went to basically nowhere.   One of my favorite things to do is sit out on a covered porch during a rain storm.  Now, I can….so excited!

The master shower!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a prettier one.  It doesn’t have the grout yet, which will be a light gray.

Our tile guy is just the most fun ever.  He’s so kind and such a hard worker.  His wife is a cancer survivor and I just love hearing him singing loudly along with his music as he works.  He keeps trying to get me to add some decoration or border into the tile work, and I keep telling him “No, Jose, we are boring!  We like simple, plain things…” Poor guy, I think he has a very creative side that we aren’t letting him tap into.  Either way, he’s doing a fantastic job.

Before he started I told asked him if he knows what “Type A” means, and that if he didn’t get the lines of the tile absolutely perfect, that my head would explode every morning when I walked in to the bathroom.  We love buying old pieces, and fell in love with these single-panel doors for my husband’s studio closet.  We planned to paint them but once they were hung we just loved the natural wood look of them.  So, they will be lightly sanded and finished to remove the scratches and marks.  Much better than those old bi-fold louvered doors, eh? They began laying the hardwood floors yesterday. Eeeek!  We found the most amazing deal on solid hardwood flooring, and are using a new VOC free option for staining and finishing them, which I will share in a future post.This is a cozy bed nook that we built into our daughter’s room.  Complete with a built-in bookshelf and recessed lights for reading and playing.

We will be hosting a lot of holidays, and so we decided to convert the odd, old “sewing room” to a reading nook.  It will be extra sleeping quarters for guests, and a great place for my introverted family members to get away with a book during all of the craziness of Christmas and Thanksgiving.Alright, I have to meet a contractor at the lumberyard at 8am, with my kids – yippee….

Time for some good sleepin.

live well. be well.