If you're looking to give a room a new personality, a new coat of paint can be an excellent way to do it. Sometimes, the right paint color can actually increase the home's value, and some colors can completely change the way you feel about a room because of the moods they cause.

This May Also Interest You: How Much Does It Cost to Paint a House?

However, as many homeowners have discovered, painting a room by yourself isn't so easy. From painter's tape to brushes and the paint itself, there are plenty of costs that add up over time, making professional painters the right choice for many homeowners. If you've never worked with a pro painter and have always gone the DIY route, you might be surprised to discover that professional painter costs can be very reasonable, depending on the size of the space you want to paint.

How Much Does It Cost to Paint a Room?

According to Family Handyman, the average cost to paint a living room can come in at anywhere from $2 to $6 per square foot (CAD 2.68 to CAD 8.03), depending on the type of room. As the living room is usually the largest and most visible room of the house, other rooms, such as a bathroom, are likely to cost less unless there are other factors, such as high ceilings or lots of ornate trim.

Remember, a professional painter's cost includes painting every part of the room, from the walls to the trim to the ceiling. It also includes fully preparing the surface to ensure your new coat of paint holds to the surface properly instead of peeling away within a few years.

Do Professional Painters Charge by the Hour or by the Job?

Because of the detail that goes into their work and the experience they have in repainting houses, most professional painters will charge by the job. An experienced residential painter knows off the top of their head what goes into painting a room or an entire house and can determine an appropriate interior painting cost after examining the task.

In rare cases, a painter might charge by the hour, but given that most house painting requires two coats of paint, this usually isn't to the homeowner's benefit. In most cases, the amount of time spent on prep work and painting the surface means the cost will be cheaper if the charge comes for the overall work rather than on an hourly basis.

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Cost Factors

When you have a professional paint your house, several small details go into the final cost. If you had an older house, for example, you might have lead paint on your walls. Before they can repaint anything, all that paint needs to be safely removed.

House painting also requires plenty of supplies, which can add up in a hurry if the homeowner has to purchase them on their own. Contrary to what many homeowners might think, repainting a home isn't as simple as choosing your color at the hardware store and applying it to the wall. You've got to get the right brushes, purchase pans, buy a roller so you can get a lot of work done quickly and prepare the surface before a brush ever hits paint. A professional painter has all these supplies before ever coming to your house, which means all those small costs are already built into the final price you pay.

All CAD conversions are based on the exchange rate on the date of publication.