How much does it cost to decorate a room?
Enter your room's dimensions and we'll cost the whole job — optional re-plaster, paint, flooring and skirting — with the exact materials and the working behind every figure. Then roll it up into a full project.
How that breaks down
| Emulsion paint | 2 × 5 L tin | £56 |
| Rollers, brushes, tape & dust sheets | 1 set | £25 |
| Laminate / LVT flooring | 10 × pack | £360 |
| Underlay | 2 × roll | £80 |
| Skirting (MDF, primed) | 5 × 4.2 m length | £103 |
What goes into decorating a room
- 1Take the room's measurements
Length, width and height, plus the number of doors and windows. The calculator works out the net wall area, ceiling, floor and perimeter for you.
- 2Choose the scope
Just paint? Re-plaster first? New floor? Toggle each — the cost updates and the material list changes with it.
- 3Check the materials
Every line shows the quantity (litres of paint, bags of plaster, packs of flooring, lengths of skirting) and where it came from.
- 4Roll it into a project
Decorating one room is the start — build the whole property into a costed, phased schedule of works for your contractor or lender.
Decorating costs are dominated by labour, not materials — which is exactly why a transparent breakdown matters. When you can see that a room needs, say, 5 litres of paint, 3 bags of plaster and 11 packs of flooring, you can judge a quote on its labour, spot padding, and decide what to DIY. ScopeWise shows that breakdown for every room and then lets you assemble the whole property into one costed schedule.
Typical cost to decorate a room (paint + floor + skirting)
| Room | Scope | Indicative cost |
|---|---|---|
| Box room | Paint + new floor | £450 – £750 |
| Double bedroom | Paint + new floor | £650 – £1,000 |
| Living room | Re-plaster + paint + floor | £1,400 – £2,200 |
| Hallway, stairs & landing | Paint + carpet | £700 – £1,300 |
Indicative; depends on condition, spec and region. Confirm with quotes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to decorate a room?+
A straightforward repaint with new flooring runs roughly £450–£1,000 for a bedroom depending on size and floor choice. Add re-plastering and it climbs to £1,400+ for a living room. The calculator gives a figure for your exact room and shows the materials behind it.
What's included in 'decorating' a room?+
Typically: any making-good or re-plastering, a mist coat plus two top coats of emulsion to walls (and ceiling), new floor covering, and fresh skirting. The calculator lets you turn each element on or off.
Is it cheaper to decorate yourself?+
Materials are a small part of the cost — most of it is labour. Doing the painting yourself can save a few hundred pounds a room, but plastering and flooring are skilled trades where a poor finish is expensive to fix.
Related tools & guides
Cost figures shown are indicative estimates, not quotations. You are responsible for verifying all costs (obtain contractor quotes) and any figures submitted to a lender. ScopeWise is a documentation tool, not financial, tax, structural or planning advice. HMO compliance prompts are guidance only — confirm requirements with your local council, as standards and licensing vary by authority.