Painting Furniture For A Baby Nursery (Is It Safe To Paint A Crib?!)

By Mandi 11/17/2015

Can you guys hear it? Taps, slowly playing in the background. I miiiight have the distinct impression that I am walking into a firing squad, but today I want to talk safety. I’ve done a lot of research when it comes to finding the right paint to use in a baby’s room, the safest way to paint a crib, etc. While there is a plethora of information online, most of what I’ve found very fear based, opinion based, and non-specific (you know other than the fact that you’re probably going to end up permanently damaging your newborn baby because you wanted a pink crib.)

Painting Furniture For A Nursery (Is it safe What kind of paint should I use) vintagerevivals.com

This post is completely my own opinions (feel free to chime in below with yours!) and for most of you, I’m a stranger on the internet so take it for what it’s worth. After years of die-hard use, I am a huge fan of Sherwin-Williams paints (you’ll see why below) so most of my research was specifically based around their lines. Other than being my preferred line, this post is not affiliated with them in any way.

We haven’t had a baby in our house for years. Dylan, our youngest will be 7 in Jan. My house in its current state is not child-proof in any way, shape, or form. It doesn’t need to be. My girls don’t touch stuff. I can set a pretty little vignette up on the coffee table and it will remain untouched until I mess with it. I didn’t realize how not normal this was until I had a group of 10 year old girls over for a church activity. They touched everything! My eyes were opened to what an anomaly my girls are. Its completely fine to have a giant cactus in our living room. No one even notices it.

Getting ready for the baby, and specifically getting the nursery ready has been um….touchy?

There are SO many opinions and information on the internet its easy to feel like unless you use paint that is 3 parts unicorn tears, 2 parts mud from a volcano in middle earth, and tinted with actual rainbows (because honestly, that it the only truly organic and pure source of color) then you are literally the worst parent to have ever walked the earth and your kid is going to suffer tremendously because you cant spend $600 on a gallon of Unicorn-Middle Earth-Rainbow paint.

Clearly that was a little dramatic, but anyone who has ever researched the right kind of paint for a baby crib knows its not that far off.

The most important thing that I found (that seems like the understatement of the century) is to do your research, and decide what is best and what makes the most sense FOR YOU.

The first logical thought that comes to my mind is, am I going to hermetically seal my child in their room?

No. No I’m not.

Should you be more cautious? Sure. But if you’re using Unicorn-Middle Earth-Rainbow paint in their room, and then they happen to, I don’t know, live in the rest of your house, doesn’t that sort of cancel it out? What if they fancy chewing on your coffee table, instead of the side of the crib? Shouldn’t you use Unicorn-Middle Earth-Rainbow paint everywhere just in case?

So I know what your thinking. “Great. So now not only do we have to get the crib ready, we have to change all of the finishes in our entire house?!?! SON OF A *#$(&#! MANDI!”

Actually you don’t.

Painting Furniture For a Nursery  What Kind of Paint Should I Use

*Keep in mind that I’m talking about a new-ish piece of furniture. If you have a vintage crib that has possible lead based paint or has been painted so many times that you don’t know what’s lurking underneath, you’re on your own.

Painting a crib is one of the easiest updates that anyone can make when they are working on a nursery. But seriously, Google it and I swear on everything that I own, you will be completely terrified and second guessing why you even want to have a cute nursery in the first place. You horrible person you, a cute colored crib is so trivial when you are suffocating your child with a cloud of chemicals.

Ok now.

Lets just stop for a second.

When you buy a crib from IKEA, it is MDF painted with some sort of lacquer. Right? How about if you buy one from Target? Even a super high end baby boutique? Its most likely painted with lacquer. So I would like to pose the question. How is painting over it with more lacquer or paint that is designed for highly durable every day furniture use any more dangerous?

As long as it has the proper amount of cure time, its not.

IKEA isn’t using Unicorn-Middle Earth-Rainbow paint. They are giving the piece proper cure time and that makes it safe.

When it comes to crib painting, the buzz word that everyone is using is Non-Toxic. The problem is that no one actually defines what that means, or what paint is in that category. When I hear that term I immediately react with “of course I want non-toxic! I don’t want to subject my sweet innocent baby to a toxic environment!!” Duh. But what kind of paint is non toxic? Is it only the expensive hippy paint?

Specifically the term Non-Toxic encompasses 2 things. Not adding Silica, and being Lead-Free. Most water-based paints on the market, and all of Sherwin’s are Non-Toxic. Even oil-based products are making huge strides towards being non-toxic by using plant based oils vs. fossil fuels. So I guess according to the people on the internet, you can use a paint from any of their lines to paint a crib and its fine.

Why does no one say that? Why does it feel like you can only use some crazy obscure product?

So now that we’ve established that we can use pretty much any water-based paint on the market, I’m going to take toxicity a step further and delve into VOC’s.

Almost anything that is manufactured, from paint to plywood, blankets to carpet, contain VOC’s. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. It is at its most basic form, chemicals that a product off-gasses into the environment. Specifically related to paint, VOC ratings are different based on the intended use of the products (floor coating vs. wall paint vs. furniture paint). If you look at the strictest regulations it needs to come in at under 50 grams per liter (for comparison, 10 years ago most water-based paint came it at around 200 grams per liter). Less than 50 is considered Low VOC, which is fantastic. No VOC paints have zero VOC’s per liter.

The most concentrated amount of VOC’s are released when you are working with the product. I.E. when your paint is still wet. As the product cures, the VOC’s evaporate into the atmosphere. Once cured (and after your house has been aired out) the amount of VOC emission is so greatly reduced that its not even measured (there is very little research on continued emissions). The huge push for Low and No VOC paint has been not so much for the safety of the product for humans (though that is an added bonus), but because of the environmental gases that it creates in the atmosphere once it’s escaped your home.

When I stopped to think about it, while lines like Sherwin’s Emerald, or Harmony are No VOC, I realized that I would much rather have paint that is formulated specifically for furniture that is Low VOC. Emerald and Harmony are specifically designed to be used on walls, so they aren’t as hard and durable as a line like ProClassic that is designed to be used on high traffic areas like furniture and doors. (You can see the technique that I use to get a perfect finish with Pro-Classic here!)

Best Paint To Use in a Nursery

IMHO the right formulation is more important than a little VOC off-gassing while its curing. Pro-Classic comes in at 37 grams of VOC per liter, well below the threshold. So not only is it Non-Toxic, but its Low VOC. Not to mention practically magic its so amazing. (Honestly if there was ever a line made with unicorn tears this would have to be it.)  It takes about 24 hours of cure time (and about a month for it to reach its max durability, though you can start using it after 48 hours).

Teething babies gnaw on things. I’d much rather have my kid gnaw on something that had a strong and durable finish, wouldn’t you? As opposed to something that was less strong and had to be touched up more often?

Lets talk about painting the walls.

One of the reasons that I LOVE Sherwin-Williams Emerald Paint and have used it everywhere in my house is because its No VOC and it is significantly more durable and cleanable than most paints with all of that stuff. That is why its so special.

As I was researching though, I “found” a new line that I ended up using instead of my beloved Emerald. Its called Harmony. I’ve seen it in the store before, but never really asked about it. Harmony is PERFECT for a baby’s room (and I mean, realistically for everywhere in your house) not only is it No VOC (so its not off-putting any chemicals) but it has proprietary technology in it that actually reduces and eliminates odors and VOC’s that other things in the room off-put (like carpet, hardwood, glue, fabric etc.) Crazy right?! The coverage was wonderful too. Its a win-win.

Nursery Paint for Walls                           Best Nursery Paint

Most VOC’s are odorless, but its pretty safe to say that while the odor causing ingredients of paint are still emitting, so are the VOC’s.

We all need to ABSOLUTELY be conscious consumers of what we are buying, and what we are bringing into our home. Is it worth paying a little bit more for No VOC paint, or Formaldehyde free plywood? Of course. But its something that we need to be conscientious of in our entire house, not just one room.

I am VERY interested in hearing your opinion about all of this. Do you have info to chime in with?

**Make sure you come back tomorrow to see the reveal of the nursery!!

LoveYourGuts14

42 thoughts on “Painting Furniture For A Baby Nursery (Is It Safe To Paint A Crib?!)”

  1. Thank you, thank you for breaking down the various elements of what is toxic and non-toxic in the paint world in an easy to understand format. Great summary.

    1. FYI-Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Benjamin Moore, etc all have a Prop 65 warning about cancer and respiratory issues.

      1. Everything (srsly EVERY product) sold in CA has the Prop 65 warning. Lawn decor, indoor furniture, toys, paint, etc. Everything.

      2. When I switched planes in California, the airplane had a Prop 65 warning on it. I’ve seen some ridiculous things with the warnings on them. Even when it is true that a chemical contained causes cancer, the problem is that the level that causes cancer is a level that isn’t possible to attain.

        The chemicals in paint cause cancer, sure. This is true to a point. If you drank a gallon a day for 75 years or work as someone who swims naked in paint to mix it.

        Having rats and feeding them dosages that are hundreds of times greater than what a human would experience over their entire lives is a pretty poor way to decide if something has a cancer risk.

        To give an example of how this logic works. Putting a tomatoe on your kitchen table isn’t going to break it. Putting 2000lbs of tomatoes on your kitchen table is going to probably snap it in half. Thus, you need to have a label on tomatoes that says “Tomatoes are known by the state of California to break tables.”

  2. Score! We want to paint our current crib for the new baby, thank you for all your hard work and diligence in research!

  3. I think the thing that worries me about painting cribs is if the paint chips off. My daughter chewed up all the top rails of her crib, but they are just teeth marks in the finish. I am pretty sure nothing actually chipped off and went into her mouth… I can’t be 100% certain, but that’s what it looks like to me. I have always wondered if a painted crib, painted by the owner and not the manufacturer, would chip at all..? Not that it would kill the kid, and probably wouldn’t even hurt them very much, but I think the idea just made me a little nervous. With painting walls and other furniture, we tried to use safer paints, but the thing we made sure to do was paint well before the babies would be using the room, so there is plenty of time for odors and toxins to make their way out of the nurseries. Like you seem to be saying though, we can’t possibly protect our kids from every possible danger, though we try. Every parent needs to decide what is a concern and what things they can just let go because otherwise we will drive ourselves crazy with worry!

  4. My son is gnawing his way through his crib. I’ve gone in and found white paint powder all around his lips so he’s definitely ingested the paint. Thank you for posting this. I really want to touch up the chew marks once he’s through this phase and now I know I can!

  5. Oh, thanks a lot. You almost made me pee my pants from laughter. But I didn’t because that would be too toxic for my babies.

  6. I painted a crib! And we used mythic paint which is non-toxic, no vocs, safe for kids and pets, etc. And he totally nibbled the crib, so I’m glad we did. 🙂

  7. Don’t they make crib rail protectors that go on so the kids don’t gnaw the paint anymore?

  8. I painted my son’s crib with chalk paint and sealed it with wax, and he is just fine with his rambunctious 2-year old self. Thankfully, we never had a problem with him chewing his crib, but we put rail protectors on, just in case. I love a painted crib!

  9. Mandi,

    My parents gave me a darling vintage crib when I was pregnant with my #2 child. It was a natural (blonde) finished wood which I didn’t care for and wouldn’t look so good with the rest of the nursery I was already doing. I went to Sherwin-Williams an told them what I wanted to do. They recommended the type of paint and finish coat I should use. I can’t remember what it was, this was years ago and I know there are a ton of new paints on the market now that are made just for this kind of usage. I ended up with a nice soft yellow very LOW gloss paint that I love. He was much of a “gnawer”, but as he got a little older, he did put his teeth into the top of the rail a couple of times and the paint didn’t even break. It still looks perfect after all of these years.

  10. Back in the day when I was considering getting a second hand crib and painting it for our newest addition, I came across this company online, Lullaby Paints. Their paints are specifically designed for babies rooms and baby furniture but since we never actually painted the crib I cannot attest to the quality of the paint. It just might be worth doing a product comparison.

  11. Yes, you are right–all cribs are going to have something. It will be paint or lacquer or other kind of finish–one wants it not to flake off and pose a choking hazard or have known toxins in it, but there’s going to be something. My main concern was with wood splinters, really, not the finish. Though it was aeons ago, now, we used a rail cover (kind of like https://www.amazon.com/BreathableBaby-Railguard-Crib-Cover-White/dp/B00YXUXMDA/ref=sr_1_44?ie=UTF8&qid=1447806414&sr=8-44&keywords=crib+rail). I liked it because it was washable (and it showed dirt, so I knew when it needed cleaning). I think that a colorful crib will be very nice!

  12. I painted my third baby’s crib 11 years ago. I asked the people at Home Depot (because they are experts in baby safety) which paint would be safe, they pointed to a paint, I bought it in light blue and painted away. He’s now 11 and doing just fine. I can think of 30 other things that this boy has done in the past 11 years that are more dangerous than chewing on a painted crib. Enjoy boy parenting.

  13. Can’t wait to see the nursery!
    I bought a second hand crib before our little guy was born and had someone piss all over my happy thrifty heart that I was crazy to do something so dangerous to my unborn child.
    Really?
    It made my heart hurt and started the new mama skin thickening. Fact. Every one has an opinion and many will give you theirs whether you want it or not. Soap, clothes, hair, hunting, co-sleeping blah blah blah.
    The reality is you just painted your little guys crib in the safest way possible and in two years I bet you have to write a kick ass post on how to fill chew marks from 1 1/2 year old boys on vintage mid mod danish leather chairs.
    I can’t wait to read about the adventures.

  14. I’d worry more about brain damage (seriously) to tots whose parents take them out shopping in brightly lit stores way after they should b in bed getting 12 hours sleep a night.
    Or they are up all hours watching tv which affects brain waves and makes sleep difficult and then they have to get up early to go to daycare or school.
    It’s going to blow back on the parents later when the kids turn out to be ADD or some such alphabet soup Dx. Or become the teenage kids who get brought home by the cops a few times too often. The brain is growing for over 20 years and the first years are most critical to healthy development. And they are the years when the kids can’t control their own environment. (Sorry, I’ve seen people with problem kids and its so heartbreaking i just break out in a rant).
    But I appreciate the research you did here and the conclusions you drew. Both fact based and with a good dose of (un)common sense. (Meaning common sense is not all that common.

    1. Fact: ADD is a neurological disorder someone is born with. Not a result of bad parenting habits. I do however, agree that children should not be out shopping well past a reasonable bed time. It always breaks my heart to see these poor babies, tired, cranky, and barely holding it together because someone just needed to be out shopping at 10:00. Makes me want to hand them all pillows and blankets, so they can sleep in the shopping cart at least.

    2. Add / Adhd Have more than one cause; such as chemical exposure to the mother any time after reaching child bearing age, the mother’s pharmaceutical use within a year of conceiving and minor head trauma to the child or child’s drinking of well water, even for short periods.
      Crib paint ? is not an issue, just use common sense when picking a paint and for GOd’s sake avoid led at all costs.

  15. Oh my goodness – that was hilarious! Loved your little intro! I paint more or less everything – from memory I think I painted my boys’ cot with an enamel paint so I didn’t have to strip it first (back in the day … Ok, same as u, 7 years ago, possibly even put a primer on…) from what I’d read at the time, enamel paint took less time too cute than water based wall paint – which I paint everything with! (lesson learned though – enamel spray paint 101: ventilation just as important than surface coverage…. ??) hehe and another thing, in terms of paint, there really is more than 50 shades of grey (and I have a sample pot in many of them!! )

  16. I’m with you on choosing a paint formulated for the application being the healthiest option although I’m really skeptical of “proprietary technology” involving chemicals.

    I would have likely skipped the Harmony line largely because I’m totally mistrusting.

  17. I agree with making your whole house safe! Even after they are babies, because kids…well, they are special. When my son was nine he decided to pretend to be a beaver and chewed all over his bunk bed. If you have girls that don’t touch things, thank your lucky stars!

  18. I was just reading about this today!! I avoided all the negativity because like you I knew there was a way or we wouldn’t have any finishes on any furniture. So the paint I was looking into was Annie Sloane paint chalk, it’s safe once it has cured for 4-6 weeks which is no biggie. Also it said that pregnant women should not use the wax finish, so that will happen after baby is born and then cure, and finally ready for baby since he/she will be in the master for that time anyway.

  19. Thank you so much for sharing! In all this internet baby paint mess, it’s nice to have some clarity. After you used the amazing unicorn-rich SW ProClassic, did you seal with a clear top coat? And if so, what did you use? Also, how did you prep the piece for paint (sand-prime-paint?) Thanks so much for your help!

  20. I know this is an older post but I just wanted to say thank you! I inherited a lovely crib and changing table from my sister-in-law that were a dreaded orangey wood. I used your advice and bought the ProClassic line from SW in a beautiful grayish white (Eider White) and holy cow if the finish on the pieces isn’t just flawless (using your method from the gorgeous dresser you did). The pieces look factory finish and they’ve got another 4 months to continue to cure and dry. A million thank you’s. I’ll just send a link to this article to anyone who questions painting precious babies furniture 😉

  21. Hello! I was reading your tips page. You stated that we should use a mohair roller to get the perfect look. If I am painting a crib, should I use the roller and a brush?

  22. No paint is safe to ingest. If you want a safe crib buy an unfinished one and put a coat of beeswax on it

  23. Thank you! my daughter is a new mother and we bought a beautiful second hand heavy crib at an awesome price and she has been reading to much if anything I can remember my 6 yr ols son chipping the paint off the wall because it was yellow underneath and he thought it was gold underneath lol

  24. I think it’s interesting that you mention the price of “hippy” paint being a main reason to consider SW. But that’s ProClassics paint is $28/qt (with color) whereas Lullaby baby safe furniture paint is only $23/qt.
    At this point is it merely a question of durability as opposed to price?

  25. Dying of laughter here! It’s been 11 years since I’ve had a baby and having to refinish a crib was daunting until your blog made it humorous and informational. Thank you for doing the footwork!! ?

  26. This blog was incredibly helpful! Thank you very much for posting this! It also gave me another place to go for paint when I am doing projects involving props and costuming. I had no idea what Sherwin-Williams was until I got there and I am super happy to have made such great acquaintances in my area! It was also really nice to catch up with someone who knew what I was looking for and I could discuss projects with. I’m super stoked to get started on repainting the crib and baby changing table! 🙂

  27. Personally, I was reading this debating whether or not to paint a crib for my grandson. It was my daughter’s crib oh so long ago. My husband fixed the sides to make it safe for our grandson’s room but I wanted to paint it to match the rest of the decor in the grand-baby room…it would’ve been our grandson’s room but we learned our other daughter and daughter-in-law are TTC so it’ll be the grand-babies room in a neutral color. This helped ease my mind on whether to purchase a new crib or just refinish her old Jenny Lind. Thank you. Many didn’t get responses as for the type of finish used; therefore, I’ll gladly post another comment once ours is finished so others will know.

  28. As I was researching painting a newly purchased second hand crib that has been chewed up along both ends of the crib (all the ‘varnish’ is gone), I came across your article. LOL, thank you for taking the time for putting things into perspective! My husband and I both laughed as I read. So…I will TSP, rinse, sand and paint with a low VOC latex furniture paint that will be allowed to cure!

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