Average cost to decorate a room or house

Summary: How much to decorate a room or house, average labour costs to decorate a room or house and average cost of materials.

Decorating is an easy way to re-invigorate your living space and give your home a new lease of life. Perhaps you’re hankering after a new design scheme you’ve seen in a glossy magazine, or want to freshen-up your abode before putting it up for sale.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to decorate, there are a few important issues to think about before you get started. We’ve all seen horror stories on TV home make-over programs where costs spiral out of control and jobs remain unfinished years after the starting date. But with a little planning and preparation, you could make sure your decoration project doesn’t get out of hand.

Average Cost

Factors to consider

The size of your room or house will obviously have an impact on the cost of a decoration project. A bigger home will need more materials such as paint or wallpaper and more time to get the job done.

If you have high ceilings or want to decorate the exterior of your house, specialist equipment such as ladders and safety harnesses could also be required.

Decorating isn’t just about painting and pasting either – good preparation is an essential, but time consuming step. If the area you want to decorate is in good condition with no cracks to be filled or wallpaper to be removed, preparation will usually just involve cleaning surfaces and covering furniture. But if your surfaces aren’t in great condition, you could find there is a day or more work in filling and stripping before you even open a can of paint.

Whether you decide to tackle a home decoration project yourself or call in the experts will have a big impact on cost. If you’re considering taking on a decoration project yourself, think about whether you have the time and energy required to see the project through. Are you a patient person with good attention to detail? Do you enjoy crafts and other DIY projects? If so, re-decorating your home could be a fun, satisfying and cost-effective project. If on the other hand you get easily bored or frustrated, it could be best to call in a professional.

As well as the obvious advantage of having decorating skills and experience, professional painters and decorators usually have good links with other tradesmen which can be helpful when renovating a home. As well as having all the necessary tools and equipment needed to complete the job quickly and efficiently, a good tradesman will know where to buy materials at the best prices and have adequate legal cover and insurance to provide you with peace of mind.

Costs to consider

The materials you decide to use in your decoration project will have a big impact on the cost. Some projects might call for specialist paints, or several tins of paint in different colours. Wallpaper is very fashionable right now, but some designer prints cost upwards of £50 a roll. Before you set your heart on an interiors scheme you’ve seen in a glossy magazine, do some research into how much the materials will cost. Also remember that more cost-effective alternatives might exist – look around or ask a tradesman for their advice.

The size of the area you want to decorate will have an impact on the cost of materials. To work out how much paint or wallpaper you will need for a particular area, start by measuring the space in square meters. You’ll find most manufacturers websites have a calculation tool to help you work out how much you’ll need.

As well as materials such as wallpaper and paint, you will need a selection of tools. Aside from brushes, rollers, sand paper and scrapers, you may also need more expensive equipment such as a steam stripper for removing wallpaper and ladder for decorating outdoors. Some of this equipment can be hired if you don’t want to splash out on something you may not use again, but remember to include rental fees when tallying-up the cost.

If you decide to pay a tradesman to undertake your decoration project for you, you will need to factor in the price of labour when estimating costs. You should expect to pay in the region of around £120 per day for a professional painter and decorator, although this will vary around the country. Ask for quotes from three separate professionals – they should break down the cost of labour and materials so you can easily compare quotes.

Remember that the cheapest quote might not necessarily be the best one. Ask for recommendations whenever possible and if you’re considering hiring someone blind, ask to see examples of their work first.