I once painted the wall of my room with one of my favorite colors. Some months after, I felt like changing it to another, and I did. It’s normal to change your preferences in certain things, and it also applies to wall painting, but how many times can you paint a wall?
You can paint the walls of your home as often as you wish. If you have a project and there is a build-up of paint, try sanding the walls down to remove it. You can also use a paint stripper to clean your walls before applying a new coat.
If you are planning on repainting the walls of your house, perhaps certain rooms instead, this article will help you out. You will learn more about when it would be best to repaint the rooms and areas in your house, particularly when they ought to be due for repainting.

How Often Should You Paint the Interior of Your Home?
As I explained earlier, you can paint the walls of your home as often as you like; however, times may still differ depending on the room. The table below shows the estimated number of times you can paint the interior rooms/areas in your house.
INTERIOR AREAS | WHEN TO PAINT |
---|---|
Living room, dining room, and bedroom | Every five years |
Kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom | Every three to four years |
Hallway/corridor | Every two to three years |
Kids’ bedroom | Every year or two |
Ceiling | When affected or has a damage |
Baseboards and trims | Every two to three years |
1) Living Room, Dining Room & Bedroom
You can paint the walls of your living room, dining room, and bedroom every five years. It is because the paint in those rooms can hold up to that time. However, for it to last that long, you need to use high-quality paint; otherwise, you might need to repaint earlier.
For bedrooms, it’s possible the paint can last longer than that. You might not need to repaint it, except if you are tired of the look and wish to change it. I understand it can get boring when you keep staring at the same color every night. Regardless of wear and tear, you can still repaint your bedroom walls.
2) Kitchen, Laundry Room & Bathroom
The paints in these three rooms do not last like those of the living room, dining room, and bedroom. The moisture in those rooms is a significant factor in causing wear and tear on the paint. Therefore, for these rooms, you might need to repaint every three to four years. Once you notice any wear and tear even before the third year, you can repaint the walls. Asides from concealing the wear and tear, doing this will also help brighten up the rooms and protect your walls.
3) Hallway/corridor
Quite some activities take place in hallways. The hallway is an area in the house that, most likely, everyone walks through repeatedly daily. Kids could even put their hands on the walls countless times. As a result, repainting your hallway wall every two to three years may be necessary. It can create a significant difference in your home look.
4) Kids’ Bedrooms
If it is an adult bedroom, the paint can last a long. However, for kids’ bedrooms, repainting will need to be done earlier. This is because kids spend quite some time in their bedrooms, and they do touch walls and make messes. You will probably need to repaint the walls every three years.
However, it is best to use the correct paint because if you choose the wrong paint, you might need to repaint the room every year or two. You can consult a painting contractor to help you choose the paint.
5) Ceilings
The ceilings are a bit exceptional in this aspect. I’m sure you know it’s impossible to walk on the ceiling. The same goes for touching. The ceiling cannot have frequent hand contact or other materials. Therefore, you need not worry about repainting your ceiling very often, however, with few exceptions.
You might need to repaint your ceiling if you notice mold or water damage. Also, if you smoke and do so indoors, it will affect the ceiling and give it a yellow color, and the only way to correct that is to repaint it.
You don’t have to repaint the ceiling only when it gets affected. If you are repainting any room, it’s not a bad idea to also repaint the ceiling. It helps give a uniform look.
6) Baseboards & Trims
Baseboards and trims always encounter feet, vacuums, toys, and other materials that can quicken the fading of the paint. The position of baseboards and trims in the house encourages the paint’s wear as different items could harm even the most professional paint jobs. It would help if you repainted your baseboards and trims every two to three years to maintain your preferred look.
Do Home Maintenance Patterns also Affect Wall Paint?
Yes, it does. You need to consider how much attention and preparation work was done before painting the space. If you use a decent primer foundation and high-quality paint, you may not need to repaint earlier than five to six years.
However, if you have a shoddy paint job on your walls, you may need to repaint them sooner. It is best to get professional painting services to avoid a shoddy paint job. Also, while repainting your rooms, shifts in current trends can be a drawback. Whatever paint work in vogue can change later, and you would want to adopt it. Therefore, you need to consider all these when repainting your walls.
When repainting your walls, you might feel it’s necessary to wash your walls before painting. Well, that is unnecessary. You do not need to endure the stress of washing your walls before repainting them. Instead, you can get a clean cloth/rag to remove the dust. If dusting is not enough for some surfaces or some parts of the surface, you can dampen the cloth and rub it thoroughly. It only depends on the wall and the paint you choose.
Conclusion
There is no recommended number of times you can repaint the walls of your house. You can paint and repaint your walls as often as you like. It is that you need to paint only when the paint starts wearing off. You can also paint when you feel like changing the color of one wall to another. However, to obtain a more desirable result, it is best to use high-quality paint.
FAQs
When painting, it would be best to allow the paint to dry before applying the second coat. Failure to do this will only make the paint peel, streak, clump, or flake when dry. Therefore, to obtain the best results, it is best to leave the paint for a minimum of two to four hours of drying time between each coat. Two to four coats of paint are okay.
If you do not use enough paint or apply it unevenly, it might make your wall patchy, which isn’t a nice look. To avoid this, use sufficient paint and paint small sections one at a time. Also, ensure to apply it evenly. You can roll in a grid fashion to obtain an even finish. Finally, avoid changing the gloss level as it could also leave things patchy.
It depends on the existing paint. If you have a current latex paint layer, oil-based paint will not adhere to it. If such happens, you can thoroughly apply two coats. Also, it would help if you used a primer as it will help your new paint bond to a new layer, which is undoubtedly formulated to bond with your fresh paint.