The Little Greene Blog

Here at The Little Greene Paint Company, we have a long standing commitment to supporting Breast Cancer charities and this year is no exception.

We will be making a special donation from every can of paint sold during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 2010.

Specially labelled cans will be sold via the internet and UK stockists for the month of October. We’re committing to give 15p from the sale of every can of paint sold during the month and customers will have the opportunity to select the charity of their choice to determine how the money generated will be spent.

Customers will be able to vote for their preferred charity on-line on our website using a special landing page which will be live from 1st October through to the end of November.

At the conclusion of the month, the money generated will be calculated and then shared out proportionately according to the on-line voting.

Major breast cancer charity partners have joined up with us in an effort to raise awareness and provide much needed resources for breast cancer research and support networks, and our customers will be able to see the work done by these important agencies, as we’ll be adding links to their profiles at the start of the month.

David Mottershead, our MD comments “We are delighted to support such an important issue, one that is close to our hearts at Little Greene; this is part of a long-term commitment to help breast cancer sufferers and the associated research to beat this disease. I am confident the programme will be a success.”

More details to follow, so keep an eye on the blog for updates!

With the days getting longer and the nights getting lighter, not to mention a welcome dose of spring sunshine, now’s the time to turn your attention to outdoor living!

Creating the perfect summer retreat, where you can curl up with a book, enjoy al fresco dining or simply watch the world go by, couldn’t be easier with our environmentally-friendly water-based paints.

They cover exceptionally well, dry quickly and have no odour, so you can give your garden room a facelift in an afternoon. Then all you have to do is stand back, appreciate your handiwork…and enjoy!

Alternatively, give your garden furniture a new lease of life with one of our practical and hard-wearing oil-based paints, which have now been reformulated to give them a greener appeal.

Without compromising on appearance, ease of application or durability, the paints have had their solvent content reduced and replaced with naturally-occurring vegetable oils, which are both environmentally-friendly and truly sustainable.

Our water- and oil-based paints come in a mouth-watering palette of 164 shades – so the hardest thing you’ll have to do is choose the colour!

We are currently running a survey to find out more about peoples lifestyles and how they impact upon the environment. If you have a couple of minutes to spare we would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Jane Cumberbatch is a Little Greene fan and our new guest blogger. She’s created a guide to re-vamping an old piece of furniture, so here’s her video, and below this is the transcript.

Continue reading »

The front door is a real focal point of the home and is often one of the first things that greets the eye.   The front door can really make a visual statement so following the correct painting procedures is equally as important as choosing the most appropriate shade.

When it comes to deciding on the colour of the door, much of this should be about personal preference but it is worth considering colours that compliment the existing exterior house colours and brickwork.

Painting your front door allows for a certain amount of creativity so whether you opt for a bold, solid colour, a subtle shade or an original design, the final effect should be something you are happy to be met with everyday.  For front doors our Oil Based Gloss Paint is ideal, it is formulated to be weather resistant and hard-wearing for up to 5 years before re-painting.

To begin, remove all fittings from the door such as door knobs and locks.  Sand down the door to remove any sheen or loose paint and use a soft cloth to remove any remaining dust.  Apply a suitable oil-based primer to the door, as recommended by our guide, and allow to dry.

Having a good quality paint brush is extremely important to ensure a professional and high quality finish.  Apply the desired paint colour in the direction of the grain to avoid streaking and, if painting a panelled door, begin with the panel mouldings followed by the inner panels.  Next, paint the centre stile and then the horizontal panels (or cross rails). Finish by painting the outer panels and lastly, the edges of the door.

If you are painting a flush door, it is advisable to paint in sections in order to maintain an even look.  When each section is complete, use horizontal strokes to blend the painted sections together.

If the area is allowed to dry before blending the sections together, the job will look uneven and messy so keep the edges wet.  Working with small sectioned off areas will ensure the best finish.

Images taken from a selection from Flickr under Creative Commons Licence.
Photographers include:

• Klearchos Kapoutsis
• Athena’s Pix
• Hortulus
• Visualpanic
• Jesibo0

The best place to start when ordering your colours is to select a colour in the Oil Based Gloss Paint finish. You can then order your corresponding primer if you need to.

One of the biggest and most serious issues of our time is the growing concern about climate change.  The current scientific consensus  points the finger at human activity as the main reason for the rapid increase in global temperatures over the past several decades.  Acknowledging this is the first step in the right direction but now the focus shifts towards how the human race can help, both in terms of dealing with the change that has already occurred but also implementing a plan for the future.  Change cannot happen overnight.  However, everyone should try to contribute towards the greater good for the sake of future generations to come.

One of the chief concerns is to reduce the amount of CO2 gas that is released into the atmosphere as well as the amount of  solvents, aerosols and toxic gases that are used in products and in manufacturing processes.  As these gases build up in the atmosphere they trap heat.  The greater the human activity, therefore, the greater the concentration of gases and the only way to combat the increase in temperature is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we emit.

Everyone should take responsibility for climate change, and that includes businesses.  By leading the way with eco-friendly products, services and manufacturing processes, companies can set a great example for individuals and set the standard for conscientious business practice.

We at the Little Greene Paint Co. take our environmental responsibility seriously.  In 2004, we were one of the first UK paint manufacturers to achieve the European environmental standard BS EN ISO 14001. We believe that acting with environmental responsibility need not compromise the high quality standard of our products.

All our water-based paints carry the industry’s lowest eco-rating, with VOC content  now virtually zero.  In addition,  our oil based paints have been reformulated with sustainable vegetable oils to dramatically reduce VOC content and odour.  The paper used in our wallpapers comes from FSC or PEFC certificated sustainable forests; so for every tree used another four are planted. The pigments used to print them are completely non-toxic and our excellent wallpaper paste contains no solvent.

So it really is time to take action and make a change, even if it is only something very small in the first instance.  The future is almost certainly in our hands; instead of lamenting about what damage has already occurred, we should now look towards the future with environmental awareness and positivity and create a better world for future generations to come.