Free tool
Measure your room, choose coats and surfaces — including a full color drench — and get liters or gallons with a shopping list.
How it works
Wall area = perimeter × height, minus about 21 sq ft (1.9 m²) per door and 15 sq ft (1.4 m²) per window. Ceiling area = length × width. Trim adds roughly 10% of the wall area when you color-drench doors, frames and skirting.
Area × coats ÷ coverage = paint needed; we add 10% for cutting in, texture and touch-ups, then round up to whole cans. Dark or strong colors over a light base often need a primer or a third coat.
Planning a one-color room? Read our color drenching guide for sheen choices by surface.
FAQ
Two coats is standard for a color change. Use a primer (or a third coat) when going from dark to light, over new plaster, or with deep, saturated colors.
Most interior emulsions cover about 350–400 sq ft per US gallon per coat, or 10–12 m² per liter — but always check the manufacturer’s data sheet; textured or porous walls take more.
Yes — keep a small can for touch-ups, and buy the whole job from the same batch so the color stays consistent.
Keep reading
Walls, trim, ceiling, doors and radiators in one hue: how to choose the color, set the sheen, handle the light and avoid the mistakes that make a drenched room feel flat.
Read storyFive ready-to-use palettes with hex codes, the rooms they suit best and the materials that make them work.
Read storyCompact sofas, round tables, the right rug, curtains hung high and wide and color that blurs the edges: practical small living room ideas, with the dimensions to plan them.
Read storyThe Trend Letter
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