Field Notes
How much paint for a bedroom
Estimating · 4 min read
Most people buy paint by the gallon and hope. The useful number is square feet of wall, not square feet of floor.
Walls are 2 × (length + width) × height, minus doors and windows. A 12×12 room with 8-foot ceilings is 384 square feet of wall before openings. Two doors and two windows knock that down to about 330–350. Two coats means you cover that twice.
Gallons, not vibes
Behr Marquee is rated around 350 square feet per gallon. On a 12×12 bedroom that’s about two gallons for two coats on the walls. Ceiling is extra. Trim is extra. A dark-to-light color change can add a coat.
If the walls are rough, patched, or thirsty drywall, coverage drops. New drywall almost always wants primer first. Skipping primer to “save a gallon” usually costs a gallon later.
What this does not include
Doors, casing, baseboard, and closet interiors. Those eat time more than paint. One interior door can take longer than a whole wall.
Use the room calculator on this site for a ballpark in dollars. For a real quote, schedule a free estimate and we’ll walk the room.