Q&A with Quiet Home Paints Founder, Lisa Teague
SOMMA: Tell us a bit about Quiet Home Paints. What got you interested in the industry? How did you go about getting started?
Lisa Teague: I have two different businesses. I’ve been the principal designer at Lisa Teague Design Studios for twenty years. I started as a decorative painter and then developed a design following. While I still design and apply decorative finishes, my primary focus is interior design and project management. Quiet Home Paints is an offshoot of my design business. I conceptualized and then launched it along with my daughter because I believe in using the healthiest materials possible, particularly in children’s spaces.
Collaborating with other designers and architects allows us to introduce our paint, and educate consumers as to the health risks that other paints introduce to our live/work spaces. Along with being a truly safe paint, it’s beautiful and durable. We didn’t sacrifice anything aesthetically by partnering with a “green” company.
SOMMA: What differentiates Quiet Home Paints from other brands?
Lisa Teague: The amount of time and care that goes into the product. I trained with an old-school painter whom had perfectionist tendencies. He let me know early on that one drop of paint where it didn’t belong would ruin the entire a. It was great training. It wasn’t long before I began creating sophisticated colors and layered glaze techniques. I was fortunate to work with a designer who had a client base in Europe, allowing me to hone my skills as a high-end decorative painter in some of the most beautiful places in the world. I was trained in ancient methods. Back then we thought nothing of thinning our glazed with kerosene and other highly toxic oils. Though the finished I created were beautiful, I suffered adverse health effects due to my exposure to solvents. The chemicals were eating away at my soft tissue causing my corneas to rupture with the slightest eye rub. Having long been aware of the need to protect our earth, combined with a personal need to protect my health set me on a course for alternative products that would allow me to create the same luminous finishes I was known for without the adverse effects. It’s been a long journey.
This lends itself to the question at hand: Quiet Home Paints are beautiful, water-based paints developed initially for nurseries and playrooms because of our heartfelt commitment to making spaces for children naturally safe and simply beautiful. These paints are safe for Mother Nature, and mothers of the human race. They promote better indoor air quality and cleaner air. Our containers are recyclable and were previously recycled. They are made out of old car tires, which give them their unique black color. From clean paint that is never tested on animals, right down to the packaging… we are striving to be good to the planet.
SOMMA: Tell us about the unique POS systems you have in place onsite at paint stores.
Lisa Teague: We’re always hard at work thinking up innovative ways to purchase paint. We’ve got a new IPad display in stores from New Hampshire to California. They allow customers to see and purchase paint while they are also looking for home goods, ensuring the color of their couch and paint will always be a perfect match.
SOMMA: What excites you about partnering with architects / designers such as SOMMA Studios? How does this partnership benefit your brand?
Lisa Teague: As a designer the opportunity to partner with SOMMA not only adds to the creative process (which makes it far more interesting), I feel that I am constantly learning. Anytime one collaborates with other respected trades there is the opportunity to learn a bit more about their craft. I am all about color, texture, pattern and spatial design. To be exposed to the skill involved in actually designing a home or building is fascinating–from the mechanics to the creation of space–really very interesting.
SOMMA: What drives you on a daily basis to produce the absolute best product you can put out into the world?
Lisa Teague: I believe in creating partnerships. I try to source and work with local artisans and small businesses. We really are the engine that drives the economy of this country. I have relationships with some large companies but they are the ones that work hard to create sustainably responsible partnerships and I source through their local showrooms. The internet is a wonderful place, but without showrooms that actually allow a customer to sit on a sofa the design world would be a very different place. I have traveled extensively and am grateful to have had the opportunity to work all over the world, but all of these opportunities started with a local connection – I value that.
SOMMA: What’s next for Quiet Home Paints?
Lisa Teague: Along with developing our ongoing relationships with fine firms such as SOMMA, we are partnering with home furnishing stores and baby boutiques – the perfect fit for our line of paints. These times, they are exciting!