Second-floor hallway with the old shade of Robinhood Green.

Master bedroom walls with the old shade of Colonial Yellow.

Accent wall with its old shade of Robinhood Green.

Nothing turns around the vibe of a home better than a new coat of paint. The promise of picking a color, sorting through color chips and imagining all of the decorating possibilities that can enhance a new hue make me positively giddy.

Finding a paint to deliver all that promise in record time and not stink up the house has gotten easier. Most paint companies are responding to consumer demand for low-odor finishes with little or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can pollute indoor air for years after the initial application.

I tested two new products on the market that have a lot of buzz and are lighting up Internet message boards -- Aura by Benjamin Moore and The Freshaire Choice Paint manufactured by ICI Paints of North America and sold at the Home Depot.

Aura is a 100 percent acrylic paint with a waterborne colorant system that literally embeds the color in the binding agent. Therefore, the paint is self-priming -- it requires no primers, even on newly installed drywall -- and requires no more than two coats, regardless of color or sheen. The product won the 2007 "Best of What's New" award by Popular Science magazine for the breakthrough technology called ColorLock. The paint is GreenGuard certified for low VOC formulation, less than 50 grams per liter, but more about that later.

Ace Paints and Unfinished Furniture on Beverly Road in Mt. Lebanon is one of the few locations in the area that carries Aura paint because of the equipment required to embed the colorant. I spoke with interior designer Kristen Butler, a store employee who specializes in color consultation.

I asked if the paint really provided the coverage the company touted. She said, "I have a dark red door sample here with one side painted cream, one coat. Come and see it." So off I went.

The door was on display and the coverage was dead on. During the visit, I looked at chip samples, including the Pottery Barn line of seasonal colors.

"Aura is available in 3,300 Benjamin Moore shades," Ms. Butler said. "We can also match virtually any other color in most major lines. You can bring in a paint name, number or chip sample and the computer has the formula in there."

Good news for paint junkies like me.

Ms. Butler said that Aura is changing the way homeowners are approaching their color choices. "Now, they can get easy coverage in their color choice, so they are going for all of the bold colors."

For those who are going for a whole home makeover, the Affinity color line created for use with Aura paint is a sure bet. All of the undertones in the color line are compatible, so the colors will flow seamlessly from room to room.

"With Aura, finish is not an issue; an eggshell finish can go over semi-gloss with no preparation," Ms. Butler said. "After it is cured, it is cleanable and waterproof so it can be used in bathrooms and kitchens."

I decided to put Aura to the test on a really tough wall. It had been painted with one coat of gray primer and three coats of PPG Paints Robinhood Green, semi-gloss finish -- a deep, pure saturated shade with blue undertones.

I chose for the test Grecian Green eggshell finish, a light, muted green with steel gray undertones.

The paint covered my grassy green wall very fast.

Robinhood Green was gone, and it had no effect on the final shade of my new paint choice. It was literally like rolling a whole new color on a virgin wall. The color was pure, dried to the touch in one hour and was ready for a second coat. The faint odor dissipated in a day.

The paint retails for $54.99 a gallon. Sound expensive? Good paint is not cheap and cheap paint is not good. Ms. Butler said that her customers aren't balking at the price. They are used to using the Regal line of Benjamin Moore that starts at $33 a gallon. Moving to Aura with one coat and no primer is actually cheaper in the long run.

Next, I tested out The Freshaire Choice in the bedroom. This paint is environmentally friendly. The packaging, color chips and the paint container are made from 100 percent recycled materials and the labels are printed with soy-based inks. The paint and the colorant contain no VOCs. The color is added into the paint via a pre-mixed colorant pouch, ensuring accurate color and consistency. It retails for $38 a gallon and is available in flat, eggshell, semi-gloss finishes, primers and ceiling paints. It comes in 66 eco-inspired shades.

This paint is not a self-priming paint. For most applications, a coat of The Freshaire Choice primer is a good idea. I skipped this step because I was painting one yellow over another with no wall repairs.

I painted an accent wall in the bedroom that was previously painted with Sherwin-Williams Supercoat in Colonial Yellow, a very strong yellow with gold undertones. I chose to cover the wall with Honey Sand, a creamier yellow with a lighter base.

The paint applies easily. It was dry to the touch in one hour, didn't require a second coat and had no odor. Three hours later, I pushed the furniture back into place and went to bed. The next morning, I re-hung the wall art.

Both of these paints are GreenGuard-certified by GEI (www.greenguard.org). It is dedicated to increasing indoor air quality and provide third-party verification for low-emitting products. The Freshaire Choice is the first paint product to receive the GreenGuard certification for children and schools.

Both of these products are a welcome addition to the DIY landscape. They, along with other eco-friendly paints and products, will go a long way toward improving indoor air quality for everyone.