Paint. It's about the color.

It can give a room an entirely new look, from dramatic to soothing. And nothing does more to freshen a house for sale than the clean luster of newly painted walls.

But it's also about chemicals, especially the volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that give off that new paint smell and are considered hazardous to breathe and environmentally dangerous. Some VOCs used in paint are suspected or known carcinogens. Some chemicals, released as the paint dries, damage the atmosphere.

For years, homeowners seeking low- and no-VOC paints - because of allergies, product sensitivities, health fears or eco-philosophy - faced a palette of wan colors, yearned for better paint performance and expected to have to repaint faded walls frequently.

The last few years have changed that.

New air-quality regulations, and more on the way, have pushed manufacturers to curb VOC levels in paints. In addition, the environmental movement has gone mainstream, luring paint makers to reformulate their paints and expand their lines or introduce new ones. Companies that already catered to the niche market for environmentally friendly paints have also upped their paint game.

The result is that more high-quality, low- and no-VOC paints are available. They come in thousands of shades, including deep ones that didn't exist a couple of years ago - even though, generally, the deeper the color, the higher the VOC level. Major manufacturers, hardware stores, specialty paint companies and others have high-performance lines low in VOCs.

"In the last number of years - one to three - there has been an explosion of paints in that market," said L. Bryan Koerber, president of Budeke's Paints, the Baltimore company that is one of the oldest paint retailers in the country.

That, he said, has been good for professional painters, who regularly inhale paint fumes and are finding that even the deep tones of some premium low- and no-VOC paints require two coats for fine coverage, not four. His stores that dot the Baltimore area - a new one opened recently in Columbia - carry several lines of low- and no-VOC paints, from industry giants as well as specialty companies.

For homeowners picking up a brush and roller, the changes mean less smell, fewer chemical headaches and lots of color choices, whether painting to stay put or to move.

Christina and Jeffrey Harrison are rehabbing their older home in Towson, trying to do the work themselves in an environmentally friendly way.

"One of the easiest ways is buying the low-VOC paint," Christina Harrison said.

Their search for very low- and no-VOC paints that lack other toxins led the couple to Amicus Green Building Center, a green hardware store in Kensington that carries several specialty brands. (The owners are looking to open a Baltimore-area store later this year.)

"It's so much nicer because it does not have that awful smell," she said. "I just think that is an easy way to take one step toward being greener."

But green did not mean white.

The laundry room is a blue-gray, the kitchen a smoky rust, the living room a bone. The couple's master bedroom is a soothing sage green.

Their son, who prefers dark colors, went for dark green for his bedroom. And their daughter chose bright raspberry for hers.

But Koerber, painters and decorators say that relatively few homeowners begin their forays into house painting being VOC-savvy, or even with much knowledge about paint quality. Their chief concern is color.

Carol Grillo of Carol Grillo Designs in Baltimore said that while few clients seek out low-VOC paints, using them has not presented color challenges.

Mark Fuqua, who owns Cockeysville-based Residential Services of Maryland, said he often tries to steer homeowners to a premium low-VOC paint.

He points out environmental benefits and talks about paint quality: A better paint goes on more evenly, requires fewer coats, wears better and is more likely to last longer.

"Most people have a low-level understanding, but if you tell people the difference, they're interested in doing the right thing," he said.

The cost of the paint is a fraction - usually around 15 percent - of the cost of having a home professionally painted because clients are paying for labor, time and other materials.

There are no specific standards for labeling paints as "low-VOC." But, generally, low-VOC refers to no more than 50 grams of VOC per liter of flat paint, or about half of Maryland's legal limit (no-VOC means trace amounts).

But is that 0 grams or 10 grams or 49 grams? Consumers can read manufacturers' specs. Details are online and paint sales specialists can help consumers decode labeling, Koerber said.

Some paint labels display a voluntary Green Seal certification. The environmental certifier recently issued a VOC limit of 50 grams of VOC per liter for flat paints and 100 for most other paints, said Linda Chipperfield, vice president for marketing. However, manufacturers have a year to comply and cans of paint on the shelf now may have the certification but meet its former - and higher - level.

The Greenguard Environmental Institute, another major certifier, bases its information not on the amount of VOCs in the paint, but on the solvents' emissions. That VOC level has to be less than 0.5 milligrams per cubic meter, said Mandi Joyner, a spokeswoman.

Not all paint sold in Maryland is low-VOC, although the state does have restrictions.

VOC levels were capped at 100 grams per liter in flat paint, 150 grams per liter in shinier paints three years ago. That effectively ended the era of oil-based paint, which can be sold by the quart, but not the gallon.

The restrictions began with the federal Ozone Transport Commission, which decided that those solvents' levels in paints in the Northeast, Maryland included, should be lower than the federal level because of outdoor air pollution.

Many paint manufacturers already sell paints with VOC levels near zero to comply with greater restrictions due to take effect in California in 2010, and others are working on them.

There are also nontoxic and natural paints, as well as formulas for homemade paints.

Low VOCs can help win homes high marks in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ratings, the U.S. Green Building Council's green rating system. The builder of Overlook homes in Baltimore's Clipper Mill neighborhood, for example, uses a low-VOC paint in construction.

The low-VOC paints don't have to cost more than other good-quality paints, said Laura Steensen, who owns the Glen Burnie-based Green Building Alternatives.

In addition, the major paint makers are continually reformulating paints and working toward zero-VOCs in high-performance paints, their spokesmen said.

Painting tips from the pros

William E. Connolly, professional home painter since 1954:

•When you cover areas, don't use slippery dropcloths. Instead, try cotton duck.

•Preparation is key. Sanding walls, filling in cracks, caulking - worth every time-consuming minute.

•Plan on two coats. "The first coat will always have shadows." Follow the manufacturer's instructions on drying time before applying the second coat.

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