Average cost to decorate a bedroom

A well-decorated bedroom can have a huge impact on your sleep as well as the value of your home. Creating a peaceful and relaxing space will improve your sleep and wellbeing, as well as give your home the wow-factor that impresses prospective buyers.

So what's the average cost to decorate a bedroom? We'll go through it in this guide.

How much should it cost to paint a bedroom?

How much it costs to paint a bedroom will depend on its size, where you're located in the country and how much prep work needs to be done, but here are the average costs:

These costs are averages based on the entire UK. HaMuch has a large database of costs for painters and decorators across the country, so take a look at the table below to get a more accurate idea of how much to expect to pay for labour in your area.

Factors affecting the cost of decorating a bedroom

Size of your bedroom

The size of your bedroom will affect the cost of decorating it. The longer it takes your decorator to paint, the more they will charge.

Our average prices above are based on a single bedroom with 7.5 square metres of floor space and a double bedroom with 11.5 square metres of floor space.

Condition of your walls and woodwork

If your walls are in poor condition with lots of flaking paint, have holes that need filling or are dirty, it will take longer for your decorator to prepare them for painting. The same goes for your skirting boards, picture rails or dado rails – if they have lots of poor glosswork on them or need re-sanding, it's going to increase the cost.

To help reduce the cost of a painter and decorator, you could prepare your bedroom before your decorator arrives. Wash the walls with sugar soap diluted with water, then rinse and dry the walls. If you have peeling or flaking paint, sand the walls down with sandpaper until smooth.

Sand skirting boards, window frames, dado rails and picture rails to prepare for painting too. New gloss paint won't adhere to a shiny surface, so it's important to sand them down and remove as much old paint as possible.>

Brand of paint

The brand of paint you choose will affect the cost – not only material costs, but labour costs too.

Although it can be easy to think a cheap DIY store brand of paint will do the job, it might cost you more in the long run. If a decorator has to do more coats to get the best finish, they will charge you more.

It's always best to go with a well-known brand of paint that you can trust. Brands like Dulux, Leyland or Crown cost between £5-£8 per litre, while premium brands like Farrow & Ball cost between £20-£40 per litre. When you get quotes from decorators, ask them which paint they recommend.

Where you live

Where you live has a huge impact on the cost to decorate a bedroom, and unfortunately you can't do much about this one. Expect to pay more than the prices quoted above in London, the south east and other major cities, but costs may be lower in smaller towns and villages.

How long does it take to paint a bedroom in the UK?

How long it takes to paint a bedroom will of course depend on its size and how much preparation is needed, but on average it will take just over a day to paint a single bedroom and around two days to paint a double bedroom.

Whether you have lots of woodwork like window frames and sills, picture rails or dado rails will also increase the time it takes to paint your bedroom.

Can you sleep in a freshly painted room?

It's not advisable to sleep in a freshly painted room. Paint contains harmful chemicals referred to as VOCs (volatile organic compounds), and they can cause headaches, nausea and respiratory problems in both humans and pets.

Most paint has a low-VOC content today to reduce the risk of effects from these chemicals, but Dulux still recommends that you leave the paint to dry completely and wait until all residual odour has gone before sleeping in your bedroom, especially if it's a child's bedroom.

Make sure you ventilate the bedroom well, leaving windows and doors open. While it might be as little as a few hours for the room to be ready to sleep in, it could take up to two weeks, so make sure you have a plan for alternative sleeping arrangements.

Is it cheaper to paint a room yourself?

On the face of it, it's always going to be cheaper to paint a room yourself. But when you consider all the factors, it could work out cheaper to get a painter and decorator to paint your bedroom.

Most people are confident enough to have a go at painting a room, but it's difficult to get the same finish as a professional. If you try to paint your bedroom yourself and don't get the result you want, you might end up paying a decorator anyway, adding to your costs.

It's also worth considering the cost of taking time off work to paint your bedroom to help you work out whether it's worth paying a decorator to do it, so you can keep your annual leave for holidays.

In what order should you paint a room?

Any decorator will always tell you to start at the top and work your way down. That means they will start with your ceiling and coving, then move on to the walls, skirting boards and woodwork.

By decorating this way, you'll reduce the risk of drips getting on your freshly painted woodwork.

Now you know the average cost to decorate a bedroom, get specific quotes for your project so you can compare prices. Post your job on HaMuch and we'll put you in touch with trusted painters and decorators in your area.

Estimates for common painter and decorator jobs;

Rates for other trades