Moving is a gigantic hassle, but I really enjoy rearranging all my stuff. I did a mostly good job keeping my last move as recycled and eco-friendly as possible (minus the trips back and forth with a pick-up truck, but that is the whole point of moving, I guess). Here’s a tour of my new place, with green features:
The walls: My ceiling is low, and the lights are fluorescent, so I painted the walls to make the space more liveable. Sherwin Williams has a store nearby, and their zero-VOC paint comes in a nice big range of colors. They have a really neat web tool where you can “paint” rooms in colors you like, trim and all, to test the combo- worth at least a half hour of play time. Plus, with a 20% discount that week, it was a good deal. Typically their gallon cans of flat paint are $35, and there’s a 15% discount for signing up to be a “preferred customer”, which I understood to mean they send you coupons sometimes. But the 20% was better, and so I got a can each of Osage Orange and Dill Green.
“VOC” is shorthand for volatile organic compound, which is a substance typically used by paint companies to dissolve pigments in their mixes. VOCs are way toxic though– they’re the smell of paint drying, and why you should paint only in well-ventilated areas. Inhale too much and you can get all sorts of damage to your central nervous system. So, while zero VOC paint is a few bucks more expensive, and doesn’t come in the deepest colors offered (since other solvents can’t dissolve as much pigment as VOCs), it’s the way to go if you want to minimize indoor air pollution. It’s safe to paint during the day and sleep in the room that night, with this stuff. Even Sherwin Williams isn’t a chemical free, totally earth-friendly paint, though. I used it because I’m in a moldy basement, and the biocide aspect of the paint is appealing. Plus, the store is close-by. Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company sells a milk-based paint in a large range of colors, and it’s available at Woodcraft, down in Springfield. It comes in a powder, you add water and mix it up, and it’s a lot harder to match colors across batches that way. But still, it loves the planet, and is a safer alternative to chemical paints.
The curtains: I folded an old window hanging that had gotten sun-damaged, and hung it
on extra picture wire behind a reed blind from Ikea (purchased 6 moves ago, languishing since that apartment). I sewed a curtain for another window out of a fabric remnant and an ill-fitting thrifted skirt. I could have donated it again, but it would have looked pretty bad on anyone, so I put it out of our misery. It looks great as my curtain.
Another curtain was created from hanging all my scarves over a rod, and securing them with extra hair clips. Inexpensive, keeps the scarves from getting obscured on the coat hooks, and looks pretty fantastic, what with all the color and texture. It was the GF’s idea to do it- one of a couple great ideas he had for my room. I shouldn’t have been so surprised about those, he’d done a great job setting up his own apartment. Curtain rods were made possible by the donation of five long bamboo stalks from GF’s mother, because she has awesome ideas about moving-in gifts. So far, we’ve cut curtain rods for the window, closet, and a strange recess in one corner that exposes the mechanical equipment. I’ve got about 40 ft left, if anybody needs any.
The welcome mat: I now have an outside door, so I found a 100% recycled rubber doormat at Target. Small victory in a Big Box.
Next time: Craigslist Shopping and New Appliance Guilt!
Virescent 
Recent Comments