Ah ... the smell of fresh paint. Don't you just love the headache you get?

Luckily, when it comes to paint, choices abound.

Freshaire Choice Paint (ENLARGE)

Freshaire's composition and paint names are earth-friendly.

RELATED LINKS: •Consumer Reports picks top interior paint brands • See more Home stories • More shopping stories

The Freshaire Choice Paint has no volatile organic compounds in the paint or the colorant, eliminating chemical odors and their harmful effects.

Made with a pre-measured color delivery tinting system, the line has 66 colors in four collections: Waterscape, with water and weathered-glass shades; Botanical, with woodland shadows and blooms; Atmosphere, with sky and cloud colors; and Earth, with grounded tones.

Freshaire is backed by a lifetime warranty on performance and appearance and is certified by the Greenguard Environmental Institute, a nonprofit organization that establishes acceptable indoor air standards for indoor products. The line's labeling is made with 75 percent recycled fiber content and printed with soy ink. The can is made from 100 percent recycled material.

Available at the Home Depot, the assortment comes in flat, eggshell and semi-gloss finishes and includes drywall interior primer and ceiling paint.

Cost is $35 to $38 for 1-gallon containers.

Details: 1-866-880-0304, thefreshairechoicepaint.com.

Termite tips

Termites cause more than $5 billion a year in property damage, according to Terminix. Worse even, the company warns, the damage is usually not covered by homeowners insurance.

Winged termites or discarded termite wings often found near doors and in windowsills are signs of a possible termite infestation. Other signs include mud tubes, which are hollow, drinking-straw-size roadways for termites, and wood that makes a hollow sound when tapped.

In addition to having your home inspected by a professional at least once a year, the company offers the following tips to keep termites out:

• Fix roof or plumbing leaks that allow termites to survive above ground.

• Ensure that gutters drain properly and direct moisture away from foundations.

• Eliminate all wood-to-soil contact around the foundation, keeping firewood or other wood debris from being stacked against the side of the home.

• Keep mulch or soil away from the home's siding. It's best to have a barrier of a few inches.

• Remove items such as scrap lumber, boxes and old books or newspapers from crawl spaces.

• Maintain adequate ventilation in crawl spaces.

• Use a mesh screen on all windows, doors and ventilation openings.

Resources for home

The days are long gone when the hardest part of buying a home was choosing one.

In today's real estate market, homeowners are faced with multiple financing options, increasing property taxes and environmental and community growth issues before buying the home. Then there's the usual remodeling, decorating and maintaining concerns, after the purchase.

The consumer section of the National Association of Home Builders site (nahb.org), is a resource on home buying, financing, building, maintaining and remodeling. The section offers detailed information on the different stages of home ownership, from having a home built, to selling and new trends in the industry such as systems-built construction. Considered the future of home building, according to the site, this method of construction gives buyers the option of purchasing a home made with factory-crafted components that have not been exposed to the elements.

Other links provide information on topics such as popular floor plans, green innovation and natural-disaster preparation. A Preserving Our Environment link discusses how builders are partnering with community and national leaders to implement sound approaches to land development, wetland preservation, clean air and more. A sidebar allows easy navigation to articles on housing issues and politics, an online directory, tool kits and economic and housing data.

Users can search for their local builders association and builders or remodelers.

Book report

Not knowing how to paint doesn't make you a dummy. But it sure can make you feel like one.

If that's the case, "Do-It-Yourself Painting for Dummies" (Wiley, $16.99 paperback) is written in your language.

Co-written by interior decorator and former magazine editor Patricia Hart McMillan and her daughter, Katharine Kaye McMillan, design consultant and expert on the psychology of design, the book is the McMillans' second Dummies Series contribution.

The book's five sections are organized to help readers take on a range of painting projects using the tools, techniques and finishes the pros use. A cheat sheet along with a detailed table of contents make it easy for readers to find the project they're looking for and get started. Topics covered include preparing for projects; choosing paint and the right supplies; creating faux finishes with shapes, patterns or glaze; and painting ceilings, floors, baseboards and trim.

Icons or illustrations along the margins offer time-saving tips and warning signs to help smart do-it-yourselfers avoid making dumb mistakes.