Are you wondering how much it costs to paint a living room?
You’ve come to the right place!
In this ProPaintCorner.com guide, you’ll learn:
- The typical cost of DIY painting the living room in your home
- How to save money when painting living rooms
- How much it usually costs to hire a professional vs doing it yourself
- The estimated cost of labor and supplies to paint a living room
And much more!
So, if you want to learn how much you should plan on spending to get your room painted, then keep reading for all our tips and insights below!
Psst! Are you wondering how much it costs to paint your home's entire interior? Check out our detailed guide on that below.
Read More >> How Much Does Interior House Painting Cost (DIY vs. Professional Painter)?
How Much Does It Cost To Paint A Living Room?
Let's dive into the specifics on how much you should expect to spend painting your living room!
Before we get started though, I do want to make a quick note that the actual costs of these things will vary depending on how big your living room is, how many coats of paint you need, and a few other things.
So, for the sake of this article, we're going to break down the typical costs you'll incur if you're doing the paint job yourself, as compared to the typical cost of hiring a professional painter.
Average Cost To Paint A Living Room If You Do It Yourself?
If you're keen on taking on a new DIY project and you want to save some money, it's going to cost less than it would to hire a professional painter. However, keep in mind if you don't have some of these paint supplies on hand already that'll add to the project costs.
Also, if your living room needs more prep work than usual, that will also add to the costs via things like spackle, drywall repair, and more.
However, if you happen to have some of this stuff already, then your total cost will likely just include the gallons of paint you'll need to buy to do the job.
But, I'm going to go through and make an itemized list of the average price of all these items below so you can get a sense of how much to budget for your painting project:
- Drop Cloths - $10
- Painter's Tape - $7
- Paint Roller Frame - $7
- Paint Roller Covers - $10
- Paint Tray - $6
- Paint Brushes (For Detailing) - $10
- Spackle - $8
- Putty Knife (for Spackling) - $7
- Sandpaper (for Spackling) - $8
- Disposable Painter's Masks - $20
- Disposable Painting Gloves - $8
- Safety Goggles - $12
- 1 Gallon of Behr Paint - $36
- 1 Gallon of Sherwin Williams Paint - $50
- 1 Gallon of Benjamin Moore Paint - $50
- 1 Gallon of Primer - $36
Typically, you won't need to purchase every single thing on this list if you've done some painting before or if you can borrow some from a friend or neighbor.
However, depending on the size of your living room (square footage) you might need anywhere from 2-4 gallons of paint.
That said, the estimated total cost of painting supplies for a living room is:
$220 - $350
This range is based on the assumption that you'd need to buy all of the painting supplies, plus primer and 2-3 gallons of paint.
Your final cost will ultimately depend on size of the room (sq.ft) is and any other project costs you might have.
For instance, your cost of paint may vary if you choose a high-end type of paint or need multiple paint colors for things like accent walls, so just keep that in mind if you're hoping to use several different colors on this project.
But, even with prep work and supplies,
However, the good news is even with the prep work and supplies, painting your room yourself is still probably less expensive than it would be to hire a professional painter even if you buy the highest quality of paint.
And the better news is that once you buy the painting supplies the first time, the project costs for every future painting project will be less!
Painting is one of the few home improvement skills that is fairly easy to learn (though it is time-consuming) and can save you a lot of money in the long run as long as you can get the hang of it and don't end up needing to repaint everything.
Important Note: If your home was built in 1978 or sooner, it's important to take precautions as some of the paint could be lead paint. Make sure you follow all safety protocols before sanding any old paint as you could expose yourself to harmful lead dust.
Read More >> How Do You Avoid Lead Paint Poisoning?
Average Cost To Paint A Living Room If You Hire a Professional Painter?
Now let's move on to price estimates for hiring a professional painter to paint your living room.
While painting prices will vary depending on who you hire and the job at hand, most painting companies will offer you an estimate based on square footage because it makes it easier to estimate their labor costs for the painting project.
So for the sake of this article, I'm going to price this out based on the national average cost per square foot, and I'm going to base the total on the national average size of a bedroom.
Keep in mind, if you're hiring someone to paint a significantly larger living room, and it requires a lot of patching or other prep work, it's going to drive the price up.
And, if you're looking to hire professional painters to do your entire house, they might price that out differently since it's a larger job.
The national average cost for painting per square foot ranges from $1-$3.
This might change, however, if you have a bunch of detailing you want them to do such as crown molding details or other interior design related add-ons.
It's also important to note that most painters charge less for interior work because interior painting costs are usually much lower than exterior house painting.
How To Estimate The Cost To Paint A Living?
The national average size of a typical living room in the U.S. is about 330 square feet.
Knowing this, you'll likely see quotes from painting contractors in the range of $330 - $1,000 for a standard size living room.
The best way to estimate the total cost of hiring a professional to paint your living room is to simply grab a tape measure and figure out the dimensions of your room.
If you happen to know the exact dimensions of your room, that's great. But if not, you can still get a rough estimate and go from there.
BUT... it's important to note that if your living room has a taller ceiling height, that's going to add the overall square footage of the project.
That's when I'd recommend going to a square footage calculator like this one to truly figure out how much square footage you're working with.
(We'll go over additional DIY costs for painting tall ceilings below if you still want to take on the project yourself!)
Read More >> How Do You Paint A Wall Like A Pro?
So What's The Typical Cost of Painting A Living Room?
So what's the ballpark here? How much can you realistically expect to spend if you DIY your living room vs. hiring a professional painter?
DIY Cost Low End: $220
DIY Cost High End: $350
Professional Painter Cost Low End: $330
Professional Painter Cost High End: $1,200
How Do You Approach DIY Painting With High Ceilings?
If you're dead set on DIY painting your living room but you're dealing with really tall ceilings, there are a few extra supplies you'll need to consider.
However, don't get too intimidated because there's really not a huge difference in skill level required compared to a regular painting job
Supplies You'll Need To Paint Tall Walls
There are some supplies that you will definitely need to acquire if you need to paint those tall interior walls.
One of these essential supplies is a ladder (duh!) but the good news is you can rent one for a day or two if you don't have one and you don't want to buy one.
However, I'd highly considering buying one if you have tall ceilings or a two-story home because they definitely come in handy for things like changing lightbulbs or other DIY projects.
The other thing you'll definitely want to consider is an extension pole for your paint rollers.
This will definitely save your back and make it much easier to roll paint on in those higher places.
However, I'd recommend still getting a ladder because when those extension poles are fully extended they tend to bow in the middle and make it harder to apply adequate pressure.
The last thing to consider buying (especially if you intend to do more paint jobs in the future) is an electric power paint roller of some sort.
These make it much easier to paint tall walls because they keep the paint roller cover automatically loaded with paint so you don't have to keep going back to the paint tray every five seconds.
Read More >> What Are The Best Paint Rollers For Walls?
How Can You Save Money When Painting A Living Room?
Lucky for you, if you decide to go the DIY route there are several things you can do to lower your paint costs and save money on your painting project.
Types of Paint
One of the best ways to save money is to choose the type of paint you're using carefully.
Obviously, if you choose to go with multiple paint colors, your project will cost more because you'll need an individual paint can for each color.
If you're still set on creating that epic accent wall, though, I'd recommend buying your paint in quart sizes to save money.
If you know you only need a little bit of that high-gloss blue to create that cool pattern, save your money and only buy one quart and then buy the gallons of paint for your main colors.
Another way to save money here is by choosing your interior paint finish carefully. Typically, high-gloss and semi-gloss paints cost more than eggshell or matte paints.
Also, latex paints are typically cheaper than oil-based paints, and if you're a beginner looking to DIY a single room in your own home, I'd recommend staying away from oil-based paints as they're harder to clean up and harder to dispose of.
Read More >> How Do You Paint Baseboards Near Carpet?
Renting vs. Buying Supplies
Did you know you can actually rent certain painting supplies rather than having to buy them?
Most Home Depot stores and Lowe's stores have a rental program where you can rent out certain painting and home improvement supplies.
So if you know you'll only need those supplies for this particular project, that can be a much more cost-effective way to get the things you need.
Here's another thing that blew my mind when I learned it: some libraries rent out basic home improvement supplies!
Check with your local library to see if they have any tools like paint rollers and paint trays on hand that you can borrow. That'll save you lots of money on your painting project and you'll still be able to get the job done right.
Obviously, the cheapest route here is to see if any of your friends and family have some painting supplies they could lend you for the day.
Sales And Dented Cans
Another way you could try to save money on paint is by waiting for your local hardware store to run a sale. Even if they knock off a few dollars on a can of paint, this can save you a bunch of money if you know you have a bunch of square footage to cover.
You can also see if they have any dented or otherwise blemished cans that they could sell to you for less.
Most people don't want to buy dented cans (just like ugly produce) but the paint inside is the same stuff, and if you can get it for a bit cheaper that's more money left over for you!
Final Thoughts On Living Room Painting Costs
Now that we've broken down the individual costs for painting a living room in your home, these cost estimates should give you a good starting point.
While every painting project is different, knowing the range of costs before you start is always helpful so you can find all the areas of the budget that you can cut back on.
Whether you're going to DIY a room in your house or plan to hire a professional, I wish you the best of luck on your painting project.
As always, happy painting!
