How Often Should You Paint the Interior of Your Home?

There is no right answer to the question of how often you should paint the interior of your house because it depends on many factors. In most cases, the reason is décor based, such as the colours looking dated or if you are a new resident and the colours chosen do not suit your taste or match well with your furnishings. A fresh coat of paint in a new colour can be a fast and inexpensive way to update your décor and give your home, or even just one room, a totally new look.

Hallways and Corridors

Usually these are the walls that see a lot of wear and tear due to errant scuff marks, finger marks, dents and cracks below the surface etc. If the paint used was a high quality, washable paint then the walls may be washed occasionally. Most of the repairs that happen to hallways and corridors are small little touch ups here and there. However, they still are the areas of the home that get painted more often (sometimes as often as every two to three years).

Living Rooms and Dining Rooms

Paint in these rooms tends to last longer, even if they are being used quite often. However, most of the activities in these rooms tend to be more formal, and in most cases, higher quality paint was likely used in these areas since they are quite often the focal point of the home. Usually, furniture, draperies, plants and artwork can prevent people from touching the wall. The primary motivation behind the decision to paint these rooms is to change the overall décor and style of the area. Generally, these rooms only get painted every five to seven years.

Kitchens, Bathrooms and Laundry Rooms

Since these areas are usually the busiest and most used rooms in your home, we recommended using only the most durable paints for these walls. Kitchens require a paint that is designed to withstand frequent washing and contact with aggressive cleaning compounds, due to the amount of cooking and food preparation that leads to staining and splattering no matter how careful you are. For bathrooms and laundry rooms, which are commonly subjected to high degrees of humidity and moisture, and water based paints are recommended. With proper ventilation in place, the repainting of these rooms should likely be done every three to four years.

Bedrooms

For adult bedrooms, paint can generally last a long time, simply because bedroom walls do not often receive as much abuse as the higher traffic areas of the home. However, this may be the opposite for children’s bedrooms since they are sometimes the equivalent of playrooms and therefore will normally suffer a high incidence of wear and tear and should, therefore, be repainted as often as every two to three years.

For any help or advice with your painting and decorating needs, please contact Monarch Paints today!