My sister loves house painting, but I absolutely hate it.
She says that it feels relaxing and zen for her, but just the thought of painting is enough to give me anxiety. It always takes longer than I expect, which sends me into a panic while I juggle work responsibilities simultaneously. This last time was particularly bad. I should have painted before I moved into my new apartment, but instead I had the crazy idea to squeeze all of the painting in before I moved any of my furniture or belongings inside. My reasoning was my allergies combined with my sensitivity to paint fumes. Even if I crank down the air conditioner for a week straight, the VOCs in the paint fumes tend to stick around for awhile. If you have plastic ductwork, it takes even longer to get the odor completely out of your HVAC system. Granted, you can open windows like most people would, but there is so much dust and pollen in my region this time of the year that I would risk getting too much of that stuck in my indoor air as well. Luckily, I won’t have any of these concerns the next time I need to paint indoors. My favorite paint brand unveiled a new zero VOC paint line. They’re available in all of the same great colors and at the same prices as most standard paints as well. This way I won’t be forced to rely too heavily on my air conditioner to try and filter the fumes out of the indoor air. It’s a product that has desperately been needed as well. I’m also lucky to have sheet metal frame ductwork, which doesn’t absorb odors like plastic ductwork tends to. The quality of the entire HVAC system at this new apartment far exceeds that of my last one.