This month I'm loving... 
eco-friendly Beckers paint. Spring is in the air. That usually means a good old spring clean and a bad case of 'out with the old and in with the new', but things are different this year. Even if you don't fret much about the carbon cost of home improvement, you're probably keenly aware of the financial cost. Instead of embarking on a huge home improvement project, try a fresh lick of paint – it can work wonders, easily morphing your tired- looking lounge or boring bath into a snazzy room you're proud to call home.
eco-friendly Beckers paint. Spring is in the air. That usually means a good old spring clean and a bad case of 'out with the old and in with the new', but things are different this year. Even if you don't fret much about the carbon cost of home improvement, you're probably keenly aware of the financial cost. Instead of embarking on a huge home improvement project, try a fresh lick of paint – it can work wonders, easily morphing your tired- looking lounge or boring bath into a snazzy room you're proud to call home. 
Your paint can earn you green points too, especially if it's Beckers, the first paint brand in the UK to be awarded the EU Eco-Label flower for environmental safety. The paint also has Nordic Swan accreditation and the endorsement of the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association.If you're tempted to gut your kitchen and throw perfectly good (if tired looking) cupboards on the tip to install shiny new units, think again. Sure, the new units could be green (if dear) custom cupboards crafted from hand-plucked local trees.
Or you could simply paint them.
Or you could simply paint them.We did this last autumn, when we brightened up our gloomy (north-facing) kitchen's country green (bleurgh) cupboards with glossy white Beckers paint. I was worried the finish would chip or peel, but the experts at Ray Munn helped us select a hard-wearing yet earth-kind paint that's bearing up beautifully. I usually advise white (as you can re-style your kitchen simply by changing tea towels, paintings or other 'accessories', but going for bold can work a treat too.
Ray Munn can match any colour sample in eco-friendly Beckers paint, with their clever Spectrophotometer machine (I sent in a hot pink fabric sample a few years ago and got an absolutely perfect match).
Last word: before you get out the paintbrush, try a green spring clean. It may just freshen things up enough to postpone the painting. For top tips, see Ms Harris’s Book of Green Household Management (subtitled ‘The Essential Thrift Bible’). Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's mum Jane calls it "an excellent guide – practical and not at all preachy." You may not be one of these green gods or goddesses who praises the 'simple life' on their organic countryside farm (unless they're spending time in their chic London digs), but you can pat yourself on your green little back for making the most of the home you have (without costing the earth, or a pot of gold).