Color is the reflection of light. The lighting in the room you are about to paint is a critical element when trying to choose the right color. The window treatments and furnishings are also full of color and are also reflections of light thus contributing elements that can change the color once applied to the wall.

So just how do you pick the paint that best suits your style?

• First, when using a fan deck of colors, go into the room you want to paint.
• Second, if you want to choose a sage green, for example, try looking in the beiges and grays first, and finding one with a hint of green. Sometimes the colors in the “green” section of the fan deck are too bright or vibrant, and this technique can help you find more subtle hues. This goes for reds, greens and blues especially.
• Third, when using the fan deck look at the darkest color first even though that would not be the depth of color you are looking for. However, by looking at the darkest color it is a little easier to see just what hue the lighter version is pigmented with predominantly. In other words, you can determine if in the blues for example, whether it is a green blue, violet blue, etc.
• Fourth, buy a sample of the color or colors you desire and paint them on poster board. Tack the poster board in different areas of the room at different times of the day to see how it looks.
• Fifth, come by The Green Painter and we would be happy to help you find a solution!

Stop by The Green Painter on Saturdays to meet Trish, our super color mixologist and founder of Colors Matter and Two Sisters Painting!

First: Love your baby’s sleep

I’m not a mother yet, but I am an older sister and have lots of friends with babies. You don’t need to be an expert to know that every parent’s ultimate dream is that their baby sleep, Sleep, SLEEP!  Sleep is good for babies and their parents. Newborns spend most of their time asleep or lying on their cribs and bassinets. Toddlers also sleep a lot. In fact, we adults also spend much of our time on our beds (forty-percent of our lives are spent on our beds, as any mattress seller will tell you).

We’ll be honest with you, not everything in your baby’s bed has to be organic for it to be safe, but it should be natural. This is why we never push customers towards organic bedding. As long as your kid’s bedding is made of 100% cotton (or other natural materials), is lighter in color (less harsh dying process) with no finishers, we think you have met the safety requirements.

But mattresses are a whole other story. We always tell customers that a healthy crib mattress is the most important immediate action you can take for creating a less toxic world for your baby. Most mattresses in the market are toxic because they are made of petrochemical based materials.  PVC is used to create water-proof layers and toxic flame retardants end up doing more harm than good.  Our non-toxic mattresses are made of natural latex, organic cotton and wool. Wool is a natural flame retardant. Organic mattresses can also be made of horsehair, coconut husk and other natural ingredients.

Second: Color that breathes non-toxic air

Painting your nursery with non-toxic paint is one of the cheapest, easiest steps to bring health to your child’s environment. The Green Painter offers the most affordable line of non-toxic paints, beating other paint stores in price and number of toxins.  Our prices are competitive with Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore and we offer a special “color mixology” service, featuring experts in color selection and matching.  Don’t forget to remove any old paint containing lead. Lead is extremely toxic!

Third: Clean right

A report conducted by the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, MA and published in the online Environmental Health Perspectives journal revealed chemicals linked to asthma and hormone disruption in 200 common household products.

There are two ways to avoid these chemicals when cleaning. One way is to do what our grandmothers did by using vinegar, soap, and water. Or if you are like most moms today, there are a lot of non-toxic and healthy cleaning product alternatives out there. We recommend Austin-based Branch Basics because it’s the closest thing to your grandmother’s mix. A powerful organic solvent that is made from the fatty acids of edible and seed-bearing plants, Branch Basics concentrate is extremely multi-purpose. The company offers directions on different measurements of water to mix with for different cleaning purposes. It is said to even be OK to use on your teeth!

Fourth: Clear the air

According to the EPA, indoor air is about 200% more polluted than outside air.  Babies will rest better, feel better and be healthier if they breathe clean air. We recommend Austin Air cleaners as our top choice.

Look for air cleaners with both HEPA and Carbon-Zeolite filters for best results.

Fifth: Purifying the water in the tub

After sleeping, children spend the rest of their time being washed and bathed. I still remember the tub parties I had with my friends, where my mom would fill up the tub with water, give us some toys and we would play for hours. Water is an essential part of the day and play for kids.

Whole house water filters can be expensive, but they are a long-term investment for your family that will benefit you well into the future. At New Living, we sell and install whole house water systems that are designed and made specifically for Houston’s water. In fact, we are currently working on introducing a new, affordable system to the market, which might just make having clean water in Houston an affordable luxury.

Sixth: Safe floors

Changing your floors can be an expensive project, but do consider various safe options such as marmoleum, hard wood, and cork. These days green experts recommend solid wood as the best alternative for the nursery. Be very careful with carpets as they can contain a lot of chemicals. For carpet or rugs, untreated wool can get in their mouths if it sheds, but it is nevertheless safe for babies to navigate on.

There is always more to add to the list, but we think these six steps cover the basics. We hope to continue to grow our product offerings and knowledge of what your needs are, so please share your feedback and ideas with us.

After writing this blog, I think I will dream of my grandmother tonight. She in fact never left the basics behind.

Best quote: “In fact, I was referred to New Living because they are the only store that carries organic wool, cotton and pure latex mattresses.”

Company Culture

Mattress Firm is a large, national company, recently buying one of its biggest competitors, Mattress Giant, for $47 million. Like all businesses, even ours, its ultimate goal is making money to survive and grow. However, this is Mattress Firm’s singular goal. While the Mattress Firm Foundation does raise money for Pancreatic Cancer research, its products and operations reflect little concern for the social or environmental problems we face.

New Living is a certified B Corporation, chartered to solve social, economic, and environmental problems. We make our decisions based on a triple bottom line, considering how our decisions have the potential to affect our business, the local economy, and the planet. We also work to educate consumers, painters, builders, Real Estate agents, about health and the environment. Finally, we are a small, local company, deeply involved in Houston’s local economy and community, and that’s how we like it!

Mattress Selection

General:

Like Mattress Giant, Mattress Firm offers a wide selection of popular brands such as Tempur-Pedic, Stearns and Foster, Hampton & Rhodes, Simmons, Sealy and Serta. New Living offers OrganicPedic by OMI (as seen in Oprah Winfrey’s “O” Magazine), Royal-Pedic, and Keetsa mattresses at competitive prices.

Sleeping Cool:

YuMe is sold exclusively at Mattress Firm and is a climate-controlled mattress which utilizes Italian coconut foam.  At New Living, OMI’s EcoWool toppers are made of natural wool, an excellent option for sleeping cool in the summer and sleeping warm in the winter.  These are available in 3”, perfect for a “nesting” feel, and 1.5” for just a little bit of added surface cushioning.

Memory Foam:

Serta’s iComfort is Mattress Firm’s best seller and boasts cooler sleeping by fusing memory foam with MircoSupport gel.  The mattresses at New Living are made from organic wool, natural rubber latex, and organic cotton – all free of toxic VOCs that are found in memory foam mattresses. We don’t even sell “green memory foam” because of health and environmental concerns!

Pricing

At Mattress Firm, lower-end mattresses start at $199 and top out at just shy of $4500 for luxury beds.  Prices vary by the thickness of the mattress itself, as well as the brand.

New Living’s mattresses fall in the same range for mattresses made from organic cotton, wool, and natural rubber latex.  We offer a range of mattresses to meet any price-point, starting at $599.

Delivery/Warranty

Mattress Firm, like Mattress Giant offers a 100-day return guarantee.  Should a mattress get returned, the customer pays the standard transportation charge which is $69.99.  If a competitor offers the same mattress for cheaper, Mattress Firm will match the price and also discount an additional 10 percent.  Each manufacturer offers warranties ranging from 10 to 25 years, depending on the brand.

At New Living, Royal-Pedic and OMI mattresses come with White Glove delivery, scheduled at your convenience.  We have partnered up with Greener Delivery to deliver all OMI mattresses on their biodiesel trucks.  This is especially great for those with chemical sensitivity as their trucks are fragrance and smoke-free.  For an additional $75 fee, old mattresses can be taken away for recycling and customers are assured that no less than 90% of the materials in the mattress will be recycled.

Warranties on mattresses sold at New Living range from 10 to 20 years, also depending on the brand.  New Living does offer a 60-day comfort guaranty to make sure you’re happy with your mattress.  It takes time to get comfortable with a new mattress, and we are happy to work with you and help you adjust to make sure you are getting the most out of your mattress.

Clearing the air

It’s important to consider that comfort doesn’t always equal healthy.  Mattress Firm does not offer any type of organic, chemical-free mattresses.  Having slept on a memory foam mattress in the past, I expressed my concerns about the odor memory foam mattresses give off, and was (wrongly) informed that it was the plastic Tempur-Pedic mattresses are wrapped in.  I was further advised in order to get rid of the smell, simply cut up some apples and put out tea bags, but there is no telling how long the smell would linger.

According to the salesman, most innerspring mattresses and memory foam mattresses are made from the same components.  So no matter what you buy at Mattress Firm, you’ll have a long-lasting stench to look forward to.  In fact, I was referred to New Living because they are the only store that carries organic wool, cotton and pure latex mattresses. 

If there is anything a person should not go cheap on, it’s a mattress.  Having a healthy, good night’s sleep establishes a range of benefits including work performance, mood, and lower stress levels to name a few.

We are only beginning to understand the cumulative effects of our daily exposure to toxic chemicals. Making your bedroom and home a sanctuary away from this exposure can only be beneficial, and there is more and more proof that it is.

Mattresses are a big investment and it’s important the right questions are asked.  Be sure you know what you are sleeping on and check out our Mattress Shopping tips.

The Keetsa Latex®

One of the best parts: buy the Keetsa today and you can sleep on it later this week! These mattresses ship in eco-friendly boxes directly to your home in 3-5 days!

Pricing:

Check out the mattress details below:

The Keetsa Latex®

Going back to basics, there is no question that parents today are more conscious about their children’s health than ever before. But the message that has gained the most resonance seems to be focused on food. While this is a great achievement that we should all be happy about, it doesn’t provide all the answers we need. Healthy eating is just one part of a healthy life.

Our hope at New Living is to show our customers that, when it comes to your little ones, it’s not just about the food you feed them.

We breathe more than we eat. According to Healthy Child Healthy World, young children — who breathe faster than adults — inhale 50% more air per pound of body weight. The EPA states that most of the toxins in the home enter the air from things like building materials and cleaning products.  Breathing these chemicals is found to be the leading cause of asthma and respiratory diseases in children.

Helping customers to create a healthy nursery has always been one of the top priorities at New Living.  We offer a range of products that include, whole house water filtration systems, non-toxic paint and organic mattresses and bedding to name a few.

We get customers from all walks of life, willing to do whatever they can to make their homes safer for their on-the-way angels. But, going green can sometimes seem expensive and customers are left wondering how important it is to buy healthy organic products for the nursery? The good news is that you don’t need to do it all at once. A few “baby steps” can make a big difference.

Does everything need to be organic?

New Living’s goal is to make healthy homes accessible and affordable for Houstonians. All parents and children deserve to know how to make their homes healthy. We also believe that if you shop smart, mixing organic with the mainstream if you must, you can gradually and affordably build a non-toxic environment for your children.

In an ideal world, everything your baby touched, wore, breathed, and smelled would be free of toxic chemicals. But aiming for ideal can be expensive.  We recommend prioritizing what’s most important for your child and shopping around that.

Check out the second half of this piece, which goes deeper into how to prioritize when designing a healthy, green nursery!

Certified Green Painters and artisan furniture builders will teach you how to re-finish furniture, floors, and more using non-toxic paints, stains, and coatings! Just show up or bring your own project; requests so far have included a guy who’s bringing in his guitar, and a mother with her two daughters training up to re-finish some end tables!

$50 for 2 hours of training, and up to 5 custom finish samples over the next month.

Be a green DIY expert!

Read more at CultureMap.

Here are the dates: (you can also call and schedule a class just for you!)

• May 12th
• May 26th
• June 9th
• July 7th
• July 21st
• August 11th
• August 25th
• September 15th
• September 29th
• October 20th
• November 3rd
• November 17th
• December 1st

OMI does not, and will NEVER make memory foam mattresses.  This Canadian company is attempting to profit off of our good name and does not respect our American trademark.  The company’s infringement brings into question the lengths it will go to sell a mattress.

This link explains some of the fraud that is going on in the mattress industry >> 
Greenwashing to watch out for >>
Find an OrganicPedic® retailer near you. >>

We’ll be there! Will you?

• May 5
• Noon-6pm
• Market Square Park 

Sustainability: From Buzzword to Belief -

Before there were superstores, there was the general store.  Before organic was a decision one made, it was a way of life. More and more, Houstonians are making decisions that are about returning to these values while remaining firmly cemented in the now. The Sustainable Living Fest is about celebrating this movement, and this city.

It began as a health and sustainability expo in conjunction with Earth Week at Georgia’s Market West Houston.  The response from the green community was resounding. And the Fest would see another year.  No one could know how quickly it would become something else entirely.  As Houston’s own knowledge and fervor for local and sustainable living grew, so did the Fest. With music, art, food, fashion, shopping- this near-zero waste event (NZW) is the only Fest of its kind in Texas!

More than anything, the Sustainable Living Fest is about this great city. It’s about showcasing the best and the brightest Houston has to offer. It’s about fantastic local talent and the best local eats- about children playing with earth, interactive demonstrations and progressive trends in local businesses. It’s about connecting community. It’s about time to take Houston sustainability from a tradition to trend and back again.

His  live edge furniture  and other work has quickly gained attention for its creative style and quality craftsmanship, and his client base includes leading designers from Houston to New York City, top residential and commercial projects, as well as a certain major chain of coffee shops.

In a recent conversation with him, we were intrigued by his comments about products sold at New Living and the Green Painter.   Like many of our clients, Bob loves the fact our finishes are non-toxic and low odor.  What got our attention was what he said about the performance.   He’s found that these products out perform others on the market, and that being “green” doesn’t mean spending more, or compromising quality.

Said Card, “There are a lot of finishes out now that – both “green” and traditional – but I’ve not found anything that does better than Lobasol for a quality penetrating oil finish.  I tried saving some money using one of the competing brands on this live edge dining table but couldn’t get the quality of finish I wanted.  After many “fixes” I finally sanded it back down and used Lobasol. As you can see, it worked beautifully.  This is a product that is easy to work with, and builds up to a beautiful finish. I could have saved a lot of time, money and trouble just by using Lobasol from the start.  Its been my “go to” finish ever since.

I love the look of oil finishes and use them on most of my projects. But sometimes clients want a finish to fully coat the wood. In those cases, I use Vermont Natural’s Poly Whey.  It is easy to apply, dries fast, and is extremely durable.  I’ve used this for several of my commercial and restaurant clients, and they’ve all loved the finish. I don’t offer Poly Whey as “an option” to traditional poly: if they want a hard topcoat, I use Poly Whey – period.”

Thank you, Bob, for sharing your experience with us, and for underscoring the fact that New Living’s paints and coatings are the best products out there.  If you are in the market for great looking custom furniture, please do check out Bob’s work at Greenwood Bay.  And for all of your painting and coating needs, come to us to get the best products you can buy.

Be a green DIY expert!

• When: 4/29/2012, 1-3 pm
• Where: The Green Painter, 61115 Kirby Drive