All photos: The OFS showroom at Fulton Center Design Days, painted with Alkemis Paint.

By Diana Mosher

Reputation is everything. Would you rather be known as “cool” or “healthy”? Well, it turns out that  Alkemis Paint is both. And, with an installation for OFS at Fulton Center Design Days this June, their sphere of influence keeps getting bigger all the time. The 20,000-square-foot Chicago showroom is painted in a curated palette of seven Alkemis Paint colors, including murals and artwork by local artist Liz Flores using Alkemis.

Maya Crowne and Price Latimer launched Alkemis peak-pandemic in 2021. The idea began when Maya considered repainting her home during lockdown. She sought a co-founder for her new venture, and Price, whom she met at a wellness retreat, immediately came to mind. The rest, as they say, is history.

"Architectural paint is the biggest contributor of microplastics in the ocean. Every year, 1.9 million tons of paint end up in our oceans and waterways."

The secret sauce in Alkemis Paint is the mineral-based formulation, Price explains. “Alkemis is the first wellness paint formulated from all-natural earthen pigments, clear quartz, and sustainable raw materials,” she says. “Plus, it’s one of the only Cradle to Cradle Certified paints in North America.”

So forget about VOCs! You won’t find them here. According to the founders, Alkemis Paint can actually help improve indoor air quality. They say it can absorb and neutralize chemicals, emit positive ions, reduce stress levels, and boost your mood, all while maintaining a unique, self-priming velvet-matte finish. The omission of plasticizers means that Alkemis products are 100% water-vapor permeable, making mold growth on walls using Alkemis Paint virtually impossible.

“When OFS approached us about the Design Days collaboration, we were immediately excited,” Price says. “Chicago has a strong Alkemis client base, so participating in anything Design Days and NeoCon-adjacent for the first time felt very meaningful.”

About their experience, in the Windy City this June, Price says, “The palette across the showroom was curated around the principles of color psychology. Color isn't just aesthetic; it directly shapes mood, energy, and how people experience and interact within a space.”

More than anything, people want products that do no harm. According to Swiss-based research group Environmental Action, architectural paint is the biggest contributor of microplastics in the ocean. Every year, 1.9 million tons of paint end up in our oceans and waterways.

But don’t fret! The Alkemis Paint team has crafted an American-made solution to reverse these disheartening facts… one wall at a time. ⬥