Interior Painting: Ceilings, Walls & Trim
Your ceiling, walls, and trim make up the majority of most interior painting projects. Below, you’ll find our pricing for a standard room, what’s included, and factors that can affect the final cost.
When estimating painting costs, you primarily measure wall square footage, not floor space. You’ll need to calculate the area of all the walls to be painted, including the height and width of each wall. While some trim and other details might be measured in linear feet, the main area calculation is based on wall square footage. The total square footage of the walls in a 12×12 room is 384 square feet. So when measuring a room you are painting 384 square feet on a single coat and 768 square feet on a full two coats.
Our Standard Room
We define a standard room as:
- 12 x 12 x 9 ft or smaller
- No more than two doors and two standard windows
- Walls painted in light/neutral colors
- Ceiling and trim already painted white
- Room is emptied of all furniture
ALL PRICES ARE BASED ON AN EMPTY ROOM. WE DO NOT MOVE FURNITURE. If items cannot be removed, additional charges may apply.
Base Pricing
- Walls: $225 (two coats, edged and rolled)
- Ceiling: $95 (one coat)
- Baseboards: $55 (one coat white)
When Prices Increase
Kitchens
Require more handwork around cabinets, appliances, and fixtures, plus surface cleaning. Typical range: $225–$300.
Bathrooms
Small hall baths: $225–$250. Larger master baths: up to $300. Factors include tight spaces, ‘toilet rooms’ and multiple fixtures.
High Ceilings & Two-Story Spaces
- Anything over 12 ft requires two painters (insurance requirement) and special equipment.
- Two-story great rooms, foyers, and cathedral ceilings start at $1,200 (includes scaffolding, setup, teardown).
- Stairwells: $225–$400 depending on layout and flooring type.
Obstacles
Clients must remove as many items as possible. Items left in place can increase labor time and cost.
Larger Rooms
Extra square footage adds time but may be balanced with smaller areas. Height over 10–12 ft is the main cost driver.
Closets
Closets are NOT included in the basic room price and can vary in price based on size and shelving type.
Other Price Factors
- Extra coats for dark/vibrant colors
- Textured walls/ceilings – this can include sand textures, plaster textures, orange peel, knockdown textures and similar
- Primer coats
- Stain or smoke damage
Stairwells
Start at a standard room price and increase for special prep (e.g., carpet meeting drywall) or extra height requiring special equipment.
Closets
Not included in standard pricing due to wide variation in size and shelving.
Trim Work
- Baseboards: $55 (tile/hardwood), $55–$60 (carpet)
- Chair rails: from $55
- Crown molding: from $65
Prices assume already-painted surfaces. Stained or oil-based surfaces require extra prep, similar to cabinet painting.
What’s Included
Labor and all standard tools/materials (except paint): tarps, plastic, tape, masking paper, brushes, rollers, buckets, screens, ladders, and one roll of painter’s tape per room.
Customer purchases paint separately through our Sherwin-Williams commercial account and receives our full discount on their entire product line, including primers and sealers.
Minor prep (small hole filling, light caulking) is included. Large repairs (nail pops, cracks, holes, missing plaster) are extra. We do NOT do substantial drywall repairs but can recommend a mud/tape contractor as well as one that can float walls.
Price Comparison
We reviewed our pricing using very popular home improvement site Homewyze using their calculator to price the range of costs associated with painting just the walls in a standard 12 x 12 room in our zip code and it’s crazy but these are current normal going rates for pro painting now. With paint a single coat walls only paint job runs $500 – $1000 now. With standard grade Sherwin products (they retail for about $75 a gal), all the labor and materials… we can do the same space for just a bit over 300 total and on average a full hour quicker!
Service Area & Travel
Prices apply within our standard service area (within 45 minutes of St. Louis Metro). This includes Jefferson County, eastern Franklin County, southern St. Charles, western St. Louis County (south of I-70), central St. Louis County, south St. Louis City, and parts of St. Clair and Monroe Counties. Outside areas may have a travel fee.
Pricing effective August 2025
