Green house

Closing in 1.5 days!

JJ and I know that we'll have to do some fix-ups to the house -- paint and carpet at the least. We're trying to find products as ecologically friendly and non-toxic as possible. Our success varies a lot.

Paint-wise, it's pretty easy to find low-VOC paint. There are some true no-VOC paints, but they run $30-50 a gallon and don't get great reviews. If you're willing to settle for low-VOC paint, the basic Olympic sold at Lowes is cheap and decent. So that's the way we're going.

Carpet is harder. If you want recycled fibers, you have to go with polyester, which is inferior to nylon both in texture and in durability. We're looking at Flor carpet tiles for possible use in the living room, which would avoid using nasty chemical glues. Carpet tiles don't tend to be as soft and squishy as I like, though. We've got some samples coming on Friday, so that'll help us make a decision.

We tend to get quite a bewildered reaction when we start asking questions about these sorts of things in the home improvement centers. It's pretty amusing.