“Green Building”

I am the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” because of my many sensitivities.

I have to be careful what we use in our home.  We bought a lovely old home with original woodwork and kitchen seven years ago.  And we have been steadily working on it since.  

Year one we built the three car garage (unattached since I didn’t want the chance of exhaust smells in the house)., a cedar deck attaching the house and garage and a small fenced area between the deck and back porch for the dogs to have a bit of space to run without being on a leash.

My plan is to share here the products that I liked using, the ones that are “ok” and the ones we’ve used that I will never use again since they made me ill.

I love that there has been a trend toward green building but for me it means something totally different.  Pressed wood makes me sick- I need natural substances- I like real wood not treated with chemicals.  And when I say they make me sick I mean chest pain, nausea, dizzy, headaches, foggy thinking.  And this is not just for a day or two since many products off gas for years (think pressed wood cabinets, paints, carpets, etc.  If it makes me dizzy, numb or have a headache by walking past it in a store it is a definite “no go”.

People that have no issues with this don’t understand how sick indoor allergies can make you.  Just because something is recycled doesn’t necessarily make it a good choice for in your home and its a good chance it is not long term good for the environment either.

By buying this old house we feel we are doing our part to help the environment – reducing waste and reusing is best if possible.  We buy salvaged or used materials when we can.  We try to listen to the lovely “Old Lady”- taking into account what is right for the particular architectural type that she is.  She suits us- friends have told us the house seems right for us and we feel more at home here with every little thing we do.