To Paint Apple or Heath

I've been looking at paint samples for the last few months trying to decide what color green to paint my kitchen. It has been green for the last five years or so and I really like the color, but since we are taking the popcorn insulation off of the ceiling in the kitchen and breakfast room I need to repaint. I like to paint. It's the quickest, cheapest way to change and freshen a room and there is something therapeutic to me about rolling this fresh, new color over the old (or over a coat of primer if the color is very different). This kitchen has taken me forever (well at least since October) to decide. I like to bring the paint samples home and tape them to the wall to see how the light at different times of day effects the color. Then when I've narrowed my choices down or if I think I've found THE one I go buy a sample of the color and paint it on a strip of the wall. I then walk around looking at it for a few days and usually know very quickly whether I want to commit. Not this time. For some reason I am vacillating between the very popular greens that have quite a bit of yellow in them and a more neutral green. I brought a color card home called jalapeño and even went so far as to try it as a sample and then go buy a gallon. I really like the color, but for some reason I just couldn't use it in the kitchen. So now our upstairs bath is jalapeño green and it is very becoming with the white bead board we have up to chair rail height. This of course means I'm back to looking for the perfect green. I picked up more samples this week, apple and heath, hmmmm.

One thing for sure when I do pick a paint it will be a low or no VOC. VOC is short for volatile organic compound and a paint that is formulated not to have VOCs or be very low in VOCs makes painting a much more pleasant experience; no more strong smell that lasts for days and of course that means it is much healthier for you. So far I have used both Home Depot and Lowe's with good results. I painted my bedroom this last summer and was very pleased with being able to sleep in the room that night, after a day of painting, with no detectable paint odor.