Paint Colors!

QUICK POLL: Which paint color do you like best for our living room?  I have 24 hours to decide!

Colors: Clockwise from top left - Buckwheat, Natural Twine, Heath, Ginger Root, Fledgling 

Paint samples in the jar.

Here's a photo of our couch.  Pillows will change!

Old Levi's

It’s hard to stay environmentally friendly and equally important health friendly when doing any kind of construction or home improvements.  Everything is made of toxic chemicals and many companies market themselves as green, but what does that really mean?  For example, we went to Home Depot and bought the Pink Panther fiber glass insulation.  It says on the packaging that is it certified “green approved” and even talked about using 40% recycled glass content.  All of this sounds great, and you can even get a tax rebate for making “green” improvements.  However, the fiber glass insulation contains “trace” amounts of formaldehyde.  I won’t go into why formaldehyde is bad for you, but it is. 

After installing our Pink Panther “green” insulation, we decided to take it down and replace it with recycled cotton (Levi's jeans) insulation from our local eco-friendly home repairs store, Green Depot.  I think in the end we made the right decision although it was not the cheap or easy one.

Ryan installs the recycled cotton insulation.

Close up of the insulation.  You can see the bit of blue jean here.

New Windows

Our new windows finally arrived from Dyke’s Lumber in Brooklyn.   We went for the black exterior frame and natural wood interior.  Ryan with the help of Señor Mendez and one other fellow framed and installed the windows.  I went to Home Depot and bought some last minute supplies (Shims!  Wood screws!  Umm… lumber and plywood.)  After a ½ day the window were in!  We realized that we needed window frames (flashing) on the outside that has to be custom bent, so some waterproof window sealing tape is stopping the rain for now.  Here are some photos of before and during!  Final after photos to follow.

BEFORE

DURING: Ugly white frames removed

New window about to be installed

One window installed!  Ryan takes a break.

AFTER: Both window installed on the second floor!  The third floor is next.

Preparing for the next phase

We have ordered the reclaimed wood flooring and NEW windows for our future living room.  Now we just need to pick some paint colors, and you guessed it, a light fixture!  I have been debating whether or not to get a medallion for the center of the ceiling from which to hang the light fixture.  Let me know what you think about medallions.

Also, let me know if you have a favorite paint color in the palette below.

In the meanwhile, I'll leave you with some room inspirations from my new favorite design web site from Belgium!  http://belgianpearls.blogspot.com/