Painting your home interior can be a demanding project. It is important to begin the process with clear information, budgeting and planning. Let’s start with understanding the costs of painting a 12×12 room before we get into how to paint it
The first step is to decide whether to paint the interior yourself or to hire a local professional house painter to do the job for you. Understanding the cost and benefit of both options is key to making an informed choice that is best for your budget, family, and home decor.
The decision process begins with understanding the costs of painting a room, a cost-benefit analysis of doing the job yourself or hiring a professional, the average costs per square foot, receiving a fair estimate, and other variables that impact the cost of your painting project. Reading basic and honest information about interior painting is a good place to begin.
What Are the Average Costs Per Square Foot?
Using a 12×12 room in your home as a standard example, the majority of professional painters will issue an estimate based on a price per square foot, charging within the range of $1 to $3 per square foot of space.
Calculate the total amount of space to be painted, whether just one or two rooms or your entire interior, to prepare a realistic budget and have a good point of reference to judge an estimate. This is calculated by multiplying the perimeter of the room by the height of the walls.
Note that a 12×12 room isn’t 144 square feet. The total wall surface is calculated by multiplying perimeter by wall height. Assuming the standard height of 8 feet, multiplied by total perimeter of 48 feet, the estimate will be issued for 384 square feet.
For the average 12×12 room, the cost will usually range between $350 and $850 with around 70% of the total projected charge covering labor costs. With the highest quality and most experienced painters the cost can go over $1,000.
An average home interior will range from $1,200 for lower quality painters to $4,000 for the most professional and experienced painters.
Painting a 12x12 Room Yourself
Since the bulk of a paint estimate is devoted to labor costs, you can save money by doing the job yourself if you are willing to do the hard work.
This is a good option if you feel confident that you have the time, energy, skills and knowledge to paint your interior at a high standard that will satisfy your design needs.
The expense of painting a 12×12 room yourself will be reduced to the cost of paints and materials at your local hardware store. Depending on the quality and color of the paints and other items you purchase it will likely be in the range of $100 to $300.
Make sure to be prepared with a list of items you need, including paints, brushes, and other critical accessories before you head to the store.
| By Yourself | With Professional Painters | |
| 12×12 Room | $100-$300 | $350-$1000 |
| An average home interior | $350-$1100 | $1200-$4000 |
| Per square foot | $0.3-$1 | $1-$3.5 |
| Per hour | $25-$35 | |
| Wall Repairs | $40-$45 per hour | |
| Texture | 20-30% increase | |
| Special texture (marble, stenciling) | $5-$11 per sq. ft. | |
| Furniture removal (per room) | $100-$150 |
What’s the Benefit of Hiring Professionals?
How are estimates calculated?
Understanding how estimates are created is a major advantage to ensure you’re receiving a fair, clear, honest price. Most painters charge between $25 to $35 per hour for a small home interior painting job which comprises the bulk of the price issued per square foot.
Painting a single room is more expensive than touching up or revamping several rooms or the entire home. Expect a cost of at least $2.5 per square foot, excluding costs of baseboards, wall repair, ceilings, and trim. It is important to research the company’s history and customer feedback to determine if your estimate is reasonable.
Many contractors will charge $100 to $150 for furniture removal per room, and overall rates may vary with such variables as location, urban or rural location, accessibility to the home, etc. As such, it is recommended to request estimates from three to four competitors to compare your options and drive the price down.
Other Factors and Variables that Affect Painting Estimates
Many factors can cause the total cost of a painting project to increase include:
- Wall repairs: Plan around $40 to $45 per hour to repair any damaged walls.
- Color: You may need more than two coats of paint for enough coverage and saturation of color if you plan to paint your walls in a darker color. This will increase the overall cost.
- Texture: Some room and interior designs call for textured walls. These will increase the cost by 20-30% depending on the texture as it requires more labor and paint.
- Quality of paint: Brands like BEHR and others are used by most professionals for both primer and paint. However, be ready to pay about $99 per gallon (which is roughly enough for a single 12×12 room). if you prefer premium color or premium quality paint like Farrow and Ball.
- Vaulted or Cathedral ceilings: Many contractors charge an additional $100 to paint a room that has vaulted or cathedral ceilings. The process requires more time and labor to prepare the stage for the project.
- Paint window trim: We recommend painting the trim of the windows in the room (if you have). Otherwise, you won’t get the desired look and feel a fresh painting should provide in the room. You may be charged an additional $200 to $300 based on the number of windows you have.
- Decorative finish: Painting an accent wall or a whole room using a special texture will bring significant extra charges. You can expect to pay about $5 to $6 per square foot for marble textures; stenciling can cost about $8 to $11 per square foot. Generally, we recommend you paint the entire room and ceiling to get the best possible outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
To thoroughly paint a 12×12 square foot room from top to bottom (which includes doors and ceiling) requires roughly three gallons for two layers of paint. Generally, one gallon can cover 400 square feet of wall space.
How long does it take to paint a room?
On average, it might take professional painters four to five hours to paint the average-sized bedroom, and between two to four hours for the painting of a bathroom.
What needs to be done before painting a room?
Before painting any room, furniture should be removed or covered, edging needs to be taped, and flooring should be covered for protection. There is a simple clean-up performed at completion of the job.
Is priming before painting a must?
Although the primer is not mandatory on recently finished surfaces, it is recommended to prime if the finished surface is glossy or sealed with a greasy film. Use a latex primer if it is pre-painted with oil-based paint in order to improve the adhesion of the latex coating.
Making a Decision
If you are prepared as an informed homeowner with an appropriate budget, painting a 12×12 room can be a simple process when hiring the right professionals.
Sure, you can save money and do it yourself, but removing the stress and labor and achieving a higher standard and better look may be well worth the investment in a local professional painter near you. Soon, your room will look vast improved; brighter, cleaner, more comfortable. You may like it so much that you decide to paint the interior of your entire home!
