Interior Painting Cost Calculator

Interior painting typically runs $2 to $6 per square foot of floor area for walls, so a single 12×12 room is about $350–$550 for walls only ($600–$900 with trim and ceiling), a 1,000 sq ft condo $2,500–$4,000, and a 2,000 sq ft home $5,000–$8,000+. Painting the whole interior — walls, ceilings, and trim — in a 2,000 sq ft home commonly lands $8,000–$12,000. The price is driven by the area, the wall height (high ceilings cost more), the paint quality, and how much prep and how many surfaces (ceilings, trim) are included. Use the calculator above to price your project by floor area, height, quality, and add-ons.

Two coats are the standard for a professional finish and true color depth, and most quality quotes assume two. One coat can work when you're repainting the same or a similar color over clean, primed walls, but it's risky — coverage is often uneven and the sheen can look patchy. You'll definitely need two (plus primer) when going from dark to light, covering stains or repairs, or painting new drywall. When comparing bids, confirm how many coats are included, since a suspiciously cheap quote is sometimes a one-coat job that won't hold up or match a two-coat finish.

Most professional quotes include paint and materials, which typically run about 15–20% of the total cost — this calculator assumes materials are included. The paint itself varies a lot: contractor/economy paint is $30–$40 a gallon, standard lines (Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams) $45–$70, and premium (Aura, Emerald) $70–$90+. Better paint covers in fewer coats, hides better, and lasts longer, so it can partly pay for itself in labor and durability. A typical room needs 1–2 gallons for two coats. If a bid is unusually cheap, ask which paint line and how many gallons it includes.

The sheen affects both looks and durability. Flat/matte has no shine and hides wall imperfections best, ideal for ceilings and low-traffic rooms, but it's harder to clean. Eggshell has a slight luster, is wipeable, and is the popular all-around choice for living rooms and bedrooms. Satin is more durable and moisture-resistant, good for kitchens, baths, and hallways. Semi-gloss and gloss are the most scrubbable and are used on trim, doors, and cabinets for durability and a crisp look. A common setup is eggshell or flat on walls, flat on ceilings, and semi-gloss or satin on trim — different paints for different surfaces.

Height slows everything down and adds risk. Standard 8-foot ceilings are the baseline; 10-foot ceilings add about 25% and 12-foot or vaulted foyers about 50% in this calculator, because the work requires taller ladders or scaffolding, careful setup and repositioning, and slower, more physically demanding cutting-in along the top corners. Stairwells and two-story foyers are the hardest — reaching them safely often means specialized ladders or scaffold towers. The paint quantity barely changes, but the labor time and safety overhead climb sharply, which is why a tall room costs far more than its floor area alone would suggest.

Painters strongly prefer empty rooms — it's faster, cleaner, and safer for your belongings. If furniture stays, they'll move it to the center and cover it with plastic, which takes time and usually adds a furniture-moving charge (about $200 here). To save money and protect your things, remove small items, wall art, curtains, and outlet covers yourself, and clear as much furniture as you can before the crew arrives. Large or heavy pieces the painters move and re-cover are where the fee comes from. The emptier and more accessible the walls, the faster the job and the lower the labor cost.

Not always, but often. You need a dedicated primer coat when painting new (bare) drywall, which drinks up paint (a PVA primer seals it), when covering a dark color with a lighter one, when there are patches or repairs, when blocking stains (water, smoke, marker), or when switching from oil to latex. For a standard repaint over sound, clean, similarly-colored walls, modern self-priming paints handle it in two coats without a separate primer. Skipping needed primer is a common cause of blotchy coverage, poor adhesion, and bleed-through, so it's worth doing where the situation calls for it. A good painter will spot-prime repairs even on a repaint.

A professional typically takes 4–6 hours to prep, cut in, and roll two coats on a standard 12×12 bedroom. A whole 2,000 sq ft home usually takes a crew of 2–3 painters about 3–5 days, more with extensive trim, high ceilings, heavy prep, or color changes that need extra coats. The prep — patching, sanding, taping, and covering — often takes as long as the painting itself, and it's what separates a lasting finish from a quick one. Ceilings, trim packages, and drying time between coats all extend the schedule. Ask your painter for a day-by-day plan so you know which rooms are usable when.

Homes built before 1978 may contain lead paint, and it's a real safety issue during painting. If surfaces are intact and you're just painting over them, the risk is low — but any sanding, scraping, or disturbing of old paint can release hazardous lead dust. Federal RRP rules require EPA lead-safe certified contractors to use contained, dust-controlled methods (plastic sheeting, HEPA vacuums, wet sanding) when disturbing paint in pre-1978 homes, which increases cost. Never dry-sand old paint yourself in an occupied home, especially with children or pregnant residents. If your home is pre-1978 and needs surface prep, hire a lead-safe certified painter and budget for the added containment.

You can paint over wallpaper with an oil- or shellac-based primer, but it's generally not recommended. The wallpaper's texture and seams often telegraph through the paint, edges can lift or bubble as the paint's moisture loosens the adhesive, and once painted, the wallpaper becomes much harder to remove later. Removing the wallpaper first gives a far better, longer-lasting result — but it's labor-intensive (scoring, steaming or soaking, scraping, then cleaning off adhesive), which is why it's priced per square foot as an add-on (about $3/sq ft here). For a quality finish, removal and a proper skim/prime beats painting over paper in almost every case.