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How much paint do I need?
Whether you're painting a room or wall, the biggest question you'll always ask is, how much paint do I need?
For starters, you'll need a measuring tape to measure the length and width of your walls. You may want to factor in the space used by windows and doors and subtract this, but bare in mind, it's likely that you'll want some paint left over for touch ups.
Many wall and ceiling emulsion paints recommend two coats, but always check the instructions for the particular paint you're interested in buying.
As Farrow & Ball notes: 'Porous walls are likely to require extra coats, as are walls undergoing dramatic colour transformations, although using the right primer & undercoat for your project can help to minimise the number of coats required.'
There's nothing worse than being halfway through a decorating project and realising you haven't got enough paint, so to avoid that ever happening, here's how to calculate how much paint you will need.
How much paint do I need?
'As a guide, it's key to bear in mind that most paints will cover about 10-12 m2 per litre. We recommend starting by measuring or estimating the length of the room. A loose and easy guide for this is step it out – one step for an adult is about 1m, so start by standing against one wall and pacing out to the opposite wall,' explains Helen Shaw, Benjamin Moore UK Director.
'You can then do the same to estimate the width. Then add two times the length and two times the width together to get the perimeter. Most rooms have a standard 2.5m high ceiling, so if you simply times the perimeter by 2.5 you will have the total m2.'
Online paint calculators
There are also lots of online calculators that can do all the hard work for you.
Useful paint measurement guides (specific to paint brand)
Before you start painting...
If painting a room start with the ceiling first, then the walls, followed by doors/windows, and finish off with the skirting boards. Read our guide on how to paint a room like a pro.
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