It's Easy to Calculate How Much Paint You Need for a Room

Before painting a room or a wall you need to determine how much paint you will need. It's smart to buy just a bit more than you think you'll use as it's always frustrating to return to the hardware store praying they still have your hue. It's also handy to have a little extra paint to cover drywall patches or nail holes when the inevitable wear-and-tear occurs. Luckily, it's easy to calculate how much paint you'll need for any given project.

1. Measure the length of the wall in feet.

2. Measure the height of the wall in feet.

3. Multiply the length times the height to get the square footage of wall area.

A gallon of paint will cover roughly 400 square feet. Make note that if you need two coats then double the amount of paint needed.









You should also take into account windows and doors and determine their square footage and subtract that from your total. If you don't want to do the math, check out this paint calculator from True Value and just enter your specs and hit go. If only the painting was so easy!

Be sure to check out ShelterPop's other helpful how-tos here and here!