Photo courtesy Shutterstock Images

Spring is the natural time to refresh your interior world by refinishing floorboards, repainting walls, replacing worn bedding and whatever else that appeals.

Here are some healthier options:

Paint

Nothing looks fresher than a newly painted wall. Paradoxically, few household products match conventional paint's toxic sheen of chemicals, which include petroleum-based volatile organic compounds (VOCs), so called because they vaporize into your home's air.

The Solution: Low-VOC paints or natural paints are now widely available. These include: BioShield casein milk paints (www.bioshieldpaint.com) and Auro Paints (www.aurousa.com), which are made without synthetic chemicals. Benjamin Moore's Pristine EcoSpec (www.benjaminmoore.com) and American Formulating and Manufacturing's (AFM) Safecoat (www.afmsafecoat.com) are low-VOC. E.C.O. of New York (www.environproducts.com) also sells a variety of safer paints. No matter which paint you use, ventilate space by opening doors and windows for at least 48 hours or until paint dries before reinhabiting, especially for pregnant women and young children.

Bedding

Approximately one-third of our time on earth is spent between the sheets, with mouth and nose close to bedding. To keep from inhaling chemical vapors—which can provoke watery eyes and respiratory problems—avoid wrinkle-, moth-, stain- and shrink-proofed fabrics.

The Solution: For a real security blanket, try one spun of 100% organic, untreated cotton, available from Heart of Vermont (www.heartofvermont.com). Coyuchi offers the "natural opulence" of 100% organic cotton sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers (www.coyuchiorganic.com). To ensure sweet dreams, invest in an organic-cotton-covered, buckwheat-hull-filled pillow from Organic Cotton Alternatives (www.organiccottonalts.com).

If the time has come to replace your mattress, organic cotton and chemical-free wool mattresses, with natural rubber cores, are available from Lifekind (www.organicmattresses.com), Terra Verde (www.terraverde.com), Gaiam (www.gaiam.com) and Nirvana Safe Haven (www.nontoxic. com). Unlike conventional mattresses, these are not stuffed with polyurethane foam, which can emit airways-and-skin-irritating vapors. Asthmatics and allergy sufferers will breathe easier atop cotton "allergen barrier" mattress encasings, which keep dust mites at bay; Allergy Buyers Club (www.allergybuyersclub.com) and Gazoontite (www.gazoontite.com).