Unsolicited Finger Painting on your Bedroom Walls ?????

Has your child decided that they want to be the next Degas, Picasso or pehaps Renior? Have they decided to try to show you their skills by painting the walls of your home? Thankfully Lila has not yet decided to try her hand at this just yet because she is still a little young to take that initiative. But it gave me a great idea for my blog post this week!

For the last 10 months, I have been renovating the garage of our Baltimore row home. When i started the project last August, I envisioned the project not taking very long at all. However, with a very demanding job within the construction industry working an average of 80 hours a week and having a very active little girl at home, there was little time to complete my side project (much to this dismay of my loving and very understanding wife).

Over the last few days, however, I am happy to report the garage project has hit the home stretch and is nearing substantial completion.

During the renovation, I have come across a product I believe all parents will find very useful: a new kid-inspired paint line out from the great people at Sherwin Willams called a Duration Home GreenSure paint. It comes in every SW color and runs around $35.00/gallon. This paint is a lower-odor, low-VOC coating which can stand up to daily living and high traffic areas, plus stains wipe clean with water. The key phrase here is stains wipe free with clean water!! The engineers have tested every materials from transmission fluid to your child's markers. It all wipes off.

Our garage walls are now a warming shade of Duration Home GreenSure Grey.

Why did I pick this product? Low maintenance and worry-free. I don't have to be concerned if Lila decides to create an u

nsolicited mural on the garage walls - - no repainting needed. Just need a bucket, some water and a cloth wipe away without harm to the walls. The second real advantage to this paint is the low odor and low VOC coating. According to wikipedia:

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) refers to organic chemical compounds which have significant vapor pressures and can negatively effect the environment and human health. VOCs are numerous, varied, and ubiquitous. Although VOCs include both man-made and naturally occurring chemical compounds, it is the anthropogenic VOCs that are regulated, especially for indoors where concentrations can be highest. VOCs are typically not acutely toxic but have chronic effects. Because the concentrations are usually low and the symptoms slow to develop, analysis of VOCs and their effects is a demanding area.

Over the last 5 years VOC paints have been the norm within the commercial construction industry and many of the construction projects I have been involved with (from government office space to retirement communities) have used low VOC paint as the product of choice. These products are are extremely safe for your child and trust me - - the more expensive up-front is a form of insurance and maintenance investment. Especially if your child decides to become the next Picasso or De Gas on your walls rather than an easel!