Will it cover? Zero-VOC Natural Ceiling Paint DIY Project in Kitchen and Dining Room

Can zero-VOC natural paint cover well on a ceiling paint project without splattering everywhere? That was the question and we got our answer re-painting our kitchen and dining room ceiling.

Before and after collage of kitchen ceiling, HVAC register cover and recessed lighting covers showing difference painting with natural, zero-VOC paint makes in covering stains and refreshing surface

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What needed to change

The ceiling has some small stains from old minor water leaks, from before we had our roof replaced.

And, I may or may not have had a few marinara sauce splatter stains above the stove.

The recessed lighting and HVAC vent covers were old and dingy.

Paint pick

Yes, we could have gone with a basic white ceiling paint. It's just a ceiling, right?

But, we know that little choices add up and we were covering a large surface area, in a central part of our house. My husband has battled cancer since 2020, so choosing a natural paint that's cost-effective and high-quality was really important to us.

Since we are always looking to reduce our exposure to toxic chemicals where it's possible and reasonable to do so, we wanted to use the natural, zero-VOC botanical emulsion paint from James Alexander.

We have used their paints in the walls in several rooms and are super happy with the results! Our son's bedroom is painted in Porcelain Mist. See their color Plum Noir in our bold bathroom paint project and Milchkaffee in our tiny Texas entryway makeover.

Supplies

1 Gallon James Alexander Thrive Paint - Color: Snowdrop (a soft, natural white) - $84 retail (sponsored by James Alexander)
Supplies we had on hand already:
- Primer (to spot treat stains)
- White spray paint (for recessed lighting covers and HVAC vent register)
- Paint roller

🔨 Equipment

Here's a list of the equipment we used to help us complete this project:

2-inch paint brush for cutting in the edges and corners

Paint roller pole

Paint roller tray and liner

Sandpaper, to remove grit from recessed lighting covers

Stepladder

The process

Our oldest son did the detailed work of removing the recessed lighting covers and cutting in the white paint around all the corners and edges of the dining room and kitchen.

My husband sanded the covers to remove build up. We then wiped them down and spray painted them bright white and allowed them to dry outside.

Sanding recessed lighting covers before spray painting to refresh them

Spray painting recessed lighting covers on piece of wood in back yard grass

Then, our youngest son did the paint rolling in both the dining room and kitchen.

Rolling natural, zero-VOC paint on ceiling in kitchen with recessed lighting covers removed

The zero-VOC natural James Alexander Thrive paint did a beautiful job of covering the bulk of the ceiling surfaces. And, we had no problem with splatter!

At first, we didn't use any primer at all, to see if we could cover the small stains with just the paint. But, unfortunately, they came through.

So, we went over those small water stains with a white primer we had in the garage, let the spots dry and then went over them again with the James Alexander Thrive Paint. They came out beautifully in the end!