If you’re looking to hire a professional painter to decorate your home, you’ll be looking to pay around £400 for a medium-sized room, and around £750 for a hallway, stairs and landing.
Wallpapering a medium-sized room is around £225 to hang and around £400 to strip and hang, but if you don’t have the time or the expertise for that flawless finish, calling in the experts is definitely worth it.
Whether you’re giving your home a revamp or looking to put your house on the market, decorating rooms can have a radical impact. But, to get the best finish, employing a professional to do the job can often provide the best results.
If you’re weighing up whether to do it yourself or hire a painter and decorator, it can be beneficial to know the potential cost of decorating a room which is why we’ve created this cost guide.
Contents
How much should it cost to paint a room?
The cost to paint a room can vary greatly, but we’ve put together average prices based on feedback we’ve received from customers who used painters and decorators they found through My Local Toolbox.
Below we’ve outlined average costs (excluding any significant repairs like plaster skimming) – to get accurate quotes from painters and decorators near you post a job.
| Project | Average price |
| Painting a medium sized room (around 30m2) | £350 |
| Painting a 2-bed flat | £500 – 2,100 |
| Painting a 3-bed house | £2,100 3,100 |
| Painting a 4-bed house | £2,600-3,600 |
| Painting a 5-bed house | £3,000 – 4,250 |
| Painting hallway, stairs & landing | £750 |
| Painting ceilings | £325 |
| Painting skirting boards (1 room) | £200 |
| Get quotes | |
How much does it cost to decorate a room with wallpaper?
The cost to decorate a room with wallpaper can vary greatly depending on whether you require wallpaper to be stripped before hanging, just need wallpaper hanging, if you’re buying the materials or if the decorator is providing them.
Based on feedback we received from homeowners who used decorators they found through My Local Toolbox, we found the average costs to decorate a room with wallpaper:
| Project | Average price | Time |
| 20m2 room (hang wallpaper) | £150 | 1 day |
| 30 m2 room (hang wallpaper) | £225 | 1-2 days |
| 50 m2 room (hang wallpaper) | £300 | 1-2 days |
| 20 m2 (strip & hang) | £300 | 2 days |
| 30 m2 (strip & hang) | £400 | 2-3 days |
| 50 m2 (strip & hang) | £450 | 3 days |
| Get quotes | ||
WHAT OTHER FACTORS AFFECT THE COST?
Several factors affect how much it costs to decorate a room. Being aware of the factors can help you prepare for how much it may cost and how you can make it cheaper.
Preparation / interior condition
The preparation and interior condition of your rooms will have a massive impact on the price of painting a room. If you’ve only budgeted for painting or wallpaper hanging, and your decorator needs to prepare the walls first, the cost and duration of the job will increase too.
Materials
If you require specialist materials or if your decorator is purchasing the paint or wallpaper and then billing you for it, then all of this will add to the cost. For example, if you live in a property with ornate cornicing that needs repairing ahead of painting, specialist materials will be required, as will special painting platforms for properties with high ceilings.
Room size
The room size will of course impact the cost to decorate a room, which is why we’d always recommend you get a quote from at least three independent local painters and decorators ahead of any job.
Location
Location can have a huge impact on price, with cities like London having the most expensive decorators. If you’re living in a town where decorators are in high demand, then you can expect to pay premium prices too.
Skill level and experience
One of the major costs in a decorating quote will be for labour costs – you are paying someone for their skills and experience. If you’re on a budget and need someone to just add two coats of paint, then a cheaper or more inexperienced painter might be suitable.
However, if your job requires a bit more expertise, it might be wise to choose someone with more experience and pay for that skill.
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Room painting and decorating FAQs
How much does it cost to paint a room in London?
Expect to pay around £400 to paint a room in London. This is excluding the cost of the paint and based on an average size room.
How long does it take to paint a room?
Typically, it will take one person around 1.5 days to paint an average size room.
The length of time it takes to paint a room will depend on several factors, including the size of the room, the condition of the walls and the experience of the painter, as well as the number of coats required.
How long does it take to wallpaper a room?
A medium sized room will take between 1 and 2 days, assuming that stripping and any wall repairs are done ahead of time.
How can I save money on interior painting and decorating?
If you’re looking to save money on interior painting and decorating, it’s worth taking the time to do the preparation work yourself.
This means stripping any wallpaper before a decorator arrives – this will also allow you to see the condition of the walls and assess if you need to repair any cracks and if lining paper will be required.
If you’re painting a room, then washing the walls with sugar soap first and using a primer ahead of the painter arriving will not only help you save money but can help cut down how long it will take to decorate the room.
If you’re ready to get quotes from painters and decorators near you then post a job now.
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About our data
We survey home owners about the quotes they receive, and tradespeople about how much they charge. We use this data to help create our cost guides.
Author
Written by, Finlay Cunningham, trade specialist at My Local Toolbox.