How much paint do I need for a 12x12 room?
Check it with your own numbers
Open the Paint Calculator with these values
| Room length | 12 ft |
| Room width | 12 ft |
| Wall height | 8 ft |
| Doors | 1 |
| Windows | 2 |
| Coats | 2 |
| Paint ceiling too? | No |
| Coverage per gallon | 350 ft² |
| Paint needed | 1.9 gal |
| Buy | 2 gallon can(s) |
| Paintable area | 334 ft² |
Paintable area
The four walls of a 12x12 room are 48 ft of perimeter. At 8 ft tall that is 384 ft² of wall. Subtract about 20 ft² for a standard door and 15 ft² for each of two windows and you have 334 ft² to paint.
Gallons
Two coats double the area to 668 ft². At 350 ft² per gallon, which is what most interior paint cans claim, that is 1.9 gallons. Buy two 1-gallon cans, or one gallon plus a quart if you are careful and the walls are smooth.
When two gallons will not be enough
- Big color change. Going from dark blue to off-white often needs a tinted primer coat first. Add another gallon of primer.
- Fresh drywall. New mud soaks up paint. Prime with PVA primer first.
- Textured walls. Knockdown or orange peel texture can cut coverage to 250 to 300 ft² per gallon.
- Cheap paint. Budget lines often need a third coat to look even.
Trim and ceiling
The 1.9 gallons is walls only. A 12x12 ceiling is another 144 ft²; one coat of flat ceiling white takes under half a gallon. Baseboard and door trim in semi-gloss for a room this size takes about a quart.
Buy it all at once
Tinted paint can vary slightly between batches. If you buy two gallons, pour them together in a 5-gallon bucket before you start (called boxing). That way the last wall matches the first.
Time
A 12x12 bedroom is a weekend job for one person: a morning to move furniture, patch and tape, an afternoon for the first coat, and the second coat the next day once the first has dried at least 4 hours.
Related questions
For other sizes, use the full Paint Calculator or browse all answers.