House Updates: Creating A Pure Home Year Two

Well, this summer marks two years that we’ve been in our current house, as hard as that is to believe! Last summer I shared everything we’d done so far to transform our older home into a green, non-toxic haven and you can read about that here. Just like last year, we’ve had a lot of unexpected things pop up this year like multiple appliances breaking (hey, the double oven was over 32 years old- I guess it had a good run!), so we haven’t gotten to all of the projects we’d planned this year. However, we did finally settle on a water filter, added in some new nontoxic furniture, and focused more on bringing in organic textiles.

Truly Clean Water

Photography by http://emmaloo.co

First things first, the water filter. Last year I mentioned we were looking at whole house water filtration systems, so I’ve gotten a ton of questions on them. Ultimately, we decided against a whole house system. Several reviews mentioned a loss of water pressure, along with issues like back-flushing, maintenance issues, etc., so we went with a simpler solution. (My friend Janny did find a whole house system that she’s been very pleased with and you can read her experience here)

Instead, we decided to go with a Berkey water filter for the kitchen and use their shower head filters for the bathrooms. We have the travel size water filter with fluoride filters and the size is perfect for our family of 4. I fill it 1-2 times a day. On weekends, maybe 2-3 times. Berkey is considered a water purification system rather than just a filter. Not only does it remove most of the harmful substances that can linger in tap water, but in emergencies, you can actually run something like creek water through it and it will be safe to drink.

 Organic Towels

On to towels! A few months back I was introduced to The Graces organic towels and I’ve been so impressed with the quality. The towels are plush, generous in size and have been woven to be very absorbent and dry quickly, so they resist mold and mildew. They come in white or in the color shown, which is stone. The funny thing is while chatting with the founder of The Graces he mentioned they didn’t set out to make organic towels initially. They just wanted to create luxury, high-quality towels, but after touring some factories and seeing towels being sprayed down with finishing chemicals to make them feel softer in the store, he knew right away they needed to change course and create organic, luxury towels. You can shop their towels here.

At one point I remember asking myself if it was really that important to buy organic towels instead of just regular ones. The more I’ve looked into it, the more I’m sure that I don’t want my family drying off their bodies with any of the junk that comes with regular towels. Cotton the “dirtiest” crop, resulting in an overwhelming amount of pesticides and herbicides on them and much of it remains during the manufacturing process. Then, even more chemicals are added to enhance the towel’s feel, absorbancy, and color fastness. Since many of these chemicals have been designed not to wash off, they remain throughout the life of the towel. Here is a great outline on what really goes into cotton production and what’s hiding in your home textiles.

Organic Sheets

Finding organic bed sheets is equally important as towels, if not more so since you spend a third of your life right up against them! I was happy to find some organic sheets from Grund America, which happens to be right in the same area as I am. Their sheets are made with 100% GOTS certified organic cotton and come in several different colors. The sheets are sateen with a 300 thread count. They offered to send me a set to try and I’ve found they get even softer with each wash. We’re also teaming up to give a set away on Instagram tomorrow, so stay tuned! If you want to try them, you can use code MAISON15 for 15% off anything on their site. They also offer organic towels, bath rugs and more.

Playroom Furnishings

I have been looking for nontoxic bean bag chairs for our playroom for a couple of years now, so I was very excited to come across these from Home Of Wool! The founder is a mother after my own heart. When her son started having allergic reactions to chemicals commonly in home furnishings, she decided to take things into her own hands and create a line that was 100% natural, no added chemicals. They make everything from mattresses, to custom couch cushions and more. They offered to make something for my home so I could give them a try and I jumped on the bean bag chairs. They’ve been a hit! I can hardly keep my husband off of them so that the kids can use them haha. The inside is stuffed with wool that’s not been treated with any chemicals, aside from being washed with a GOTS certified, bio-degradable washing agent. The outside is a linen and cotton sailcloth, which has seemed pretty durable so far. You can use code: THANKSMOLLY for 5% off a one-time purchase on anything on their site. You can also find some of their items on their Amazon shop page. The handmade items will ship from Bulgaria- I received mine quickly and in good shape.

Stitching details on the bean bag chair

Other Updates

Last but not least, I’d mentioned last year that we were adding some built-ins to our laundry room. Since it wasn’t a large area of cabinetry, we had them built from scratch to avoid any MDF or other off-gassing glues or chemicals commonly used in cabinets. We painted the cabinets with Benjamin Moore Natura in semi-gloss and so far the paint has held up well. The bench is butcher block, which we finished with Vermont Natural Coatings Polywhey and we’re so impressed with how well it has sealed up the wood! We used the satin finish and think it turned out perfect. It’s a tight space, so it’s hard to get a wide-angle photo of the room, but above is a little close-up shot of the built-in.

This next year we’re really hoping to tackle the kitchen. Cabinets, counters and more. At the rate that the appliances are breaking down, we should have already replaced them all by fall, so at least that will be done :). Be sure to check out last year’s post where I went into more detail about finding nontoxic rugs and furniture. What nontoxic home topics do you want to see covered next? Tell me in the comments below!

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