Painting A Pink Accent Wall, the Green Way

I wanted to paint myself an accent wall.

That’s just a designer-y way of saying that you’re too lazy to do the whole room so let’s just pick a wall and call it a day.

I have a little wall space in the far corner of my studio that was just calling out for a color. I had a Feng Shui consultant come visit for an hour about a month ago (I’ll post on that later) and she suggested a nice pink to “activate” my spirituality corner. If the Feng Shui business works, the pink color–along with a little Buddha, my Tibetan prayer flags and my Tibetan singing bowl–will bring more spirituality and mindfullness into my life. (Something I really need.)

There’s really no better place to go for eco-friendly painting supplies than Green Depot on the Lower East Side. They’ll mix up some zero-VOC paint for you in whatever color you need, provide you with a biodegradable drop cloth and sustainably made paint tray, paint brushes and a paint roller, all wrapped up into one convenient kit. It’s important to get zero-VOC paint, because that stuff will give you cancer, seriously. Not only on the day you paint it on, but for years after as it continues to off-gas into your home.

I’m an excellent wall painter, the by-product of having a interior designer mother who likes to move frequently. But painting a wall is actually really simple:

Tape the corners and edges with paint tape
Throw down a drop cloth. Tape it down to be safe.
Put on some paint clothes, including a head wrap. (Don’t want to get paint in your hair!)
Mix up your paint. Paint tends to separate in the can. I had just a quart, so I used a pair of chopsticks to do so.
Use a paint brush to do the corners and edges.
Use a roller dipped in paint poured into a paint tray to do the rest.

I was done in less than an hour. I touched it up a couple places after it dried, and had my furniture back in place a few hours later. It’s a great way to feel productive on a Sunday.

But it wasn’t until long after I was done that I realized that my apartment didn’t smell anything like paint. It smelled just as fresh as when I woke up that morning, and I didn’t even have the window open. Thank you no-VOC paint!

No VOC pink wall with Tibetan Prayer flags