The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House style
Vegan paints now have a royal seal of approval
Make like Meghan and embrace vegan paints
THE NEWS THAT the Duchess of Sussex is decorating her nursery using vegan paint has sparked a renewed interest in what, exactly, we are putting on our walls. The Duchess’s reported choice of brand – Auro, available through the Organic & Natural Paint Company – contains no animal products (most standard paints contain the milk-derived product casein), but is also eco-friendly and non-toxic, containing rosemary and eucalyptus oils and plant pigments, rather than potentially harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCS).
Paint the Town Green, another company that produces non-toxic, waterbased paints, similarly makes the case for eco-friendly production, citing figures from the Centre for Alternative Technology, which claims that 30 litres of non-biodegradable waste is generated for every litre of non-eco paint. And with the variety of sustainably produced paints now on offer, there’s no need to lose out on colour choice if you do decide to go green.
The interior designer Edward Bulmer launched his own paint collection (using Auro’s base paints) after reading a World Health Organization report that stated that painters were 40 per cent more likely to develop lung cancer. His paints contain only natural ingredients, and his chic palette, which will soon be updated with 20 new colours, has been devised during 30 years’ experience of restoring historical properties.
New company Painthouse’s forte is vibrant shades – its 72-strong palette of natural paints includes plenty of brights, and it has come up with an ingenious Peel & Stick sample book with reusable swatches, making it an easy way to experiment with colour-matching.
At the more understated end of the spectrum, Mylands makes water-based, ‘virtually’ solvent-free paint, coloured using natural earth pigments, which it claims give a greater depth and lustrous quality. Its latest collection, titled Greys & Neutrals, might seem a little off-message, given current predictions that grey is on its way out as the UK’S favourite shade, but CEO Dominic Myland insists that the new hues are ‘proven, timeless colours in decorating schemes’. They will also pair well with the stronger colours in the company’s palette.