Identify the surface and follow the current instructions for your exact products. Do not sand or strip uncertain old coatings. Read the safety guide before disturbing materials.
Why everyone underestimates it
Painting is the fast part. Preparation is half the time on a good job and two thirds on an old house. Then there is drying. An oil based gloss that is touch dry in a few hours still wants sixteen hours before it takes a second coat, a water based eggshell about six, and in a cool Fife room in March that stretches. Emulsion needs four hours between coats on the tin and often six in practice. Every coat waits for the one before.
The timelines below assume a professional working steadily with proper preparation and two finish coats. Double them for careful DIY.
Room by room
These are working days, not elapsed days. A two day room might span three calendar days because of drying overnight.
| Job | Working days | What takes the time |
|---|---|---|
| Bedroom, walls and ceiling only | 1 to 1.5 | Filling, two coats, cutting in |
| Bedroom, walls, ceiling and woodwork | 2 to 3 | Woodwork: sanding, undercoat and two coats with drying between |
| Living room with cornice and bay | 3 to 4 | Cornice detail, more cutting in, more woodwork |
| Kitchen walls and ceiling | 1.5 to 2 | Degreasing, working around units |
| Hall, stairs and landing | 3 to 5 | Access, high ceilings, many doors and frames |
| Two bedroom flat, everything | 8 to 12 | Sequencing rooms so drying overlaps |
| Three bedroom house, everything | 15 to 25 | The same, plus more woodwork |
| Front door, full strip and repaint | 2 to 3 spread over a week | Drying between oil coats |
| Ten sash windows outside | 8 to 15 spread over three weeks | Repairs, putty skinning, weather |
| Cottage exterior walls in limewash | 4 to 6 plus curing days | Four thin coats, each left to carbonate |
Drying and curing are different things
Touch dry means you can lightly touch it. Recoat time means the next coat will not disturb it. Cure means it has reached full hardness, which for most modern paints is two to four weeks. In the first week after decorating, treat woodwork gently, do not scrub walls and do not hang pictures on fresh eggshell.
Cold and damp slow everything. Below about eight degrees most water based paints stop forming a proper film indoors, and outside we plan to a ten degree minimum. Above eighty percent humidity, oil paint may stay tacky for days. Heat the room to a normal living temperature and keep air moving; do not blast a fan heater at a wall, which skins the paint and traps solvent.
The order a decorator works in
Ceiling first, then walls, then woodwork last, because drips fall down and each stage protects the one below. On a whole house, rooms are sequenced so that the woodwork in one room dries while the walls in the next are painted. That overlap is how a professional does a house in three weeks that would take a homeowner three months of weekends.
- Clear, protect and prepare everything in the room before any paint is opened
- Ceiling, two coats
- Walls, two coats, cutting in as you go
- Woodwork: prime bare patches, undercoat, then two finish coats
- Snagging in raking light, then furniture back after a day
Common mistakes
- Booking a room for a weekend that needs a week
- Putting furniture back the same afternoon
- Painting woodwork before the walls
- Second coating emulsion after two hours because it felt dry
If your timeline depends on the weather, a new baby or a house sale, tell us. We plan around fixed dates all the time and will say honestly if a date is not realistic.
Sources & further reading
Original general guidance from Aethos, informed by the resources below. These references cover relevant safety, materials or techniques, not a specification for your property. Product examples are not paid recommendations.
- This Old House: how to paint a room (opens in a new tab)
Preparation and room painting technique. US products and terminology do not always translate directly to UK specifications.
- Farrow & Ball: paint finishes (opens in a new tab)
Different products and sheen levels for different surfaces. Check the current product advice sheet.