How Many Gallons of Paint Do I Need?
A common question we are asked by DIYers in the wild is “How Many Gallons of Paint I will need?”
The answer to this question of course depends on your project and what surfaces you are doing, what color they are vs what color they are going, if it is an “extreme” color change, etc.
Before we get started, let me also tell you I can help you get contractor pricing for LIFE here!
The one thing I can tell you for sure about how much paint you will need is that it’s usually not anywhere close to what the paint store has quoted you. And that sh*t is too expensive to just go buying extra all willy-nilly like that!
Our general rule of thumb is that 1 gallon will do 2 coats of the walls of 1 “average” sized room. Average size may depend on your region and is subject to individual interpretation of course :)
A bathroom will typically take less, and of course closets even less so! Rooms with taller ceilings or lots of different walls you can bank on slightly more as well.
Rooms that need more than 2 coats (ex: rooms going anything to white) will need more than 1 gallon for walls.
We usually take the number of average size rooms and then add in our bathrooms, closets, hallways calculation by discretion.
How many gallons of paint you will need for trim is subject to the same rules; fully dependent on how much trim you have (baseboards, window/door), and the number of coats you will need to do.
A common “trim” service we provide to our clients is a “1 coat refresh” on baseboards, whether it be to prepare a home for sale or for the client’s current enjoyment. This service generally will require simply one coat of paint. If we are tackling a condo project and doing all trim and doors, we may only need 1-2 gallons there as well. If you’re unsure of which paint is best to use on your walls or trim, make sure to get our free GEAR GUIDE.
How many gallons of paint you will need for your project also highly depends on the method of application. If you are a brave enough soul to venture into spraying your own project (I do not recommend this for most projects for DIYers), you will need a pretty decent amount more paint than if applied by brush and roller, in most cases.
How many gallons of paint you will need to paint your cabinets again relies heavily on how large your kitchen or cabinet area is, and how many coats you will need to do. For example, in the kitchen above, we did two coats of primer to ensure that no tannin from the oak would seep through into the finish coats. We sprayed this kitchen, so the number of gallons was higher than it would have been if we applied the paint by brush/roller.
If you are looking to paint your cabinets, make sure to check out our lesson on “How to Paint Your Cabinets” here!
We discussed how expensive each gallon of paint can be, and if you’re here, chances are you already know!
What if I told you there was a way to get access to our contractor rates on all of your paint purchases going forward? Make sure to check out our Golden Ticket.