How Much Does It Cost to Decorate a Room in London? (2026)

Last updated: 17 June 2026

Decorating a typical room in London costs about £450 to £700 in 2026, covering walls, ceiling and some woodwork at a mid-range finish. A simple walls-only refresh of a small room starts around £200, while a large room or a full redecoration with heavy preparation can run up to £1,650 or more. Most of the bill is labour, and most of the labour is preparation, so the biggest swing in price is the condition of your walls and how much filling, sanding and stripping is needed. London labour sits at the upper end of national prices, around 20 to 35 per cent above the national average.

This guide breaks down current prices by room size, explains what drives the cost up or down, and shows you how to get a fair, written quote from a trusted local decorator.

A quick answer: room decorating prices in London (2026)

Room size	Walls and ceiling, painted (London range)
Small room (about 2.1m x 2.2m)	£200 to £900
Medium room (about 3.3m x 3m)	£250 to £1,100
Large room (about 6.1m x 5m)	£350 to £1,650
Hallway, stairs and landing	£400 to £1,600

These ranges come from a November 2025 Which? survey of vetted painters and decorators. They cover labour and materials but exclude VAT and wallpaper [1]. London and the South East sit at the top of each band, because labour here costs roughly 20 to 35 per cent more than the national average [2][3].

The spread within each row is wide for a reason: a quick coat of emulsion on sound walls sits near the bottom, while a full redecoration with filling, sanding, ceilings and woodwork sits near the top.

What a fair decorating quote should include

Before you accept a decorating quote in London, check it sets out the following. This is the most useful list to have in hand when you compare decorators:

• A fixed total price, not just a day rate. A written quote is binding once you accept it, whereas an estimate is only an informed guess and can rise [9].
• A clear scope. Walls only, or walls plus ceiling and woodwork? How many coats? Is filling, sanding and stripping old wallpaper included? Preparation is around two thirds of the work, so this is where most quotes differ.
• Whether VAT is included. Domestic decorating is standard-rated at 20 per cent, but only if the decorator is VAT-registered. Many sole traders turn over under the £90,000 threshold and do not charge it, so check you are comparing like with like [7][8].
• What materials are covered. Paint, primer, filler and dust sheets, and whether premium paint is billed on top.
• Making good and protection. Moving or covering furniture, masking, and clearing up at the end.
• A payment schedule. Stage payments, with the balance due only after you have inspected the finished work. Never pay the full amount up front.
• How long the price is valid and the circumstances in which it could change [9].

As a rule of thumb, get at least three written quotes for the same scope of work, and be wary of anyone who will not put a price in writing or who asks for a large cash deposit up front [9].

What affects the cost of decorating a room

Most of the bill is labour, and most of the labour is preparation. Decorators commonly estimate that prep is around two thirds of the work, so a room that needs filling, sanding and stripping will always cost more than one that needs a simple refresh. The main factors are:

• Room size and ceiling height. Larger walls and taller rooms mean more surface area, more paint and more time. High ceilings may also need access equipment.
• Surface condition and preparation. Cracks, old wallpaper, flaking paint or damp patches all add labour. Prep alone can add roughly £150 to £600 to a room.
• Number of coats. Bare plaster needs a mist coat plus topcoats, and going from a dark colour to a light one often needs an extra coat.
• Ceilings and woodwork. Painting the ceiling, skirting boards, architraves, doors and window frames adds to a walls-only price (see below).
• Paint quality. Trade emulsion for a room costs roughly £20 to £50, while premium brands such as Farrow & Ball, Little Greene or COAT can be £80 to £200 for the same room.
• Wallpaper. Hanging paper, and especially stripping old paper, is more labour-intensive than painting.
• Access and the London premium. Flats above ground level, restricted parking and the city's higher labour rates all nudge the price up.
• Moving and protecting furniture. A clear, empty room is quicker to decorate than one that has to be worked around.

Painter and decorator day rates in London

The UK average day rate for a painter and decorator is around £325 a day [2]. In London, expect roughly £250 to £350 a day for typical work, rising to about £430 a day at the top of the mainstream range [2][4]. Specialist finishes, heritage work and busy central postcodes can push experienced decorators to £450 a day or more, but that is the premium end rather than the norm.

Most decorators quote a fixed price for the whole job rather than charging by the day, which is usually better for you because the risk of overruns sits with them. Even so, knowing the day rate is a useful sanity check: a standard room is often one to two days of work, so a quote that implies a much higher daily figure is worth questioning.

Cost to paint a room by size

For a straightforward repaint of walls and ceiling in good condition, a small room can cost as little as £150 to £250 and take around a day, while an average London bedroom including walls, ceiling and woodwork commonly lands at £300 to £500, with roughly £450 a typical figure.

If you prefer to think in square metres, decorators often work to £10 to £20 per square metre of wall for labour, with the lower figure for large, smooth, easy-access walls and the higher figure for small, awkward rooms that need filling [4]. For a 15 square metre room, that works out to roughly £360 to £690 in London once the local premium is applied.

Walls only, or a full redecoration?

The single biggest swing in price is whether you want a simple refresh or a full redecoration.

• Walls only: a couple of coats of emulsion on sound walls. This sits near the bottom of every range above and is the cheapest, quickest option.
• Full redecoration: filling and sanding, then painting walls, ceiling and all the woodwork, sometimes after stripping old wallpaper. This roughly doubles a walls-only price.

As a rough guide for a full redecoration: a small room is around £200 to £300, a medium room £400 to £600, and a large room £800 to £1,200.

Ceilings and woodwork

These are the add-ons that turn a walls-only price into a full redecoration:

Element	Typical cost
Ceiling	£150 to £650 [5]
Woodwork (skirting, architraves, doors, frames), good condition	£70 to £650 [1]
Woodwork in poor condition	£90 to £1,200 [1]

A ceiling generally costs around 30 per cent more per square metre than walls, because painters work overhead. Woodwork adds at least £50 to £100 to a room even in good condition, and considerably more if old gloss has to be sanded back.

Painting versus wallpapering

Wallpapering a room costs around £450 on average, but the full range is wide, from roughly £260 to £2,950 depending on the paper and the prep [1][6]. Labour runs at about £14 per square metre, rising towards £20 per square metre when old paper has to be stripped first [6]. On top of labour you have:

• The paper itself: anywhere from £10 to £70 or more per roll.
• Stripping old wallpaper: around £350 for a room.
• Lining paper (often needed under a finish paper): an extra £150 to £300.
• A single feature wall: roughly £200 to £400.

Once stripping and lining are added, wallpapering is usually more expensive and more labour-intensive than painting. Paint tends to be the better value choice for a whole room, while wallpaper earns its keep on a feature wall or where you want a pattern that paint cannot match.

Do you pay VAT on decorating in London?

Domestic decorating is charged at the standard 20 per cent VAT rate [7]. There is an important catch, though: VAT only applies if the decorator is VAT-registered. Registration is compulsory only once a business turns over more than £90,000 a year [8], and many sole-trader decorators sit below that threshold and do not charge VAT at all. In practice, that can make a smaller decorator around 20 per cent cheaper than a larger VAT-registered firm for the same work.

The practical lesson is simple: always check whether a quoted price includes or excludes VAT, so that you are comparing like with like.

Finding a trusted decorator in London

The biggest factor in a good result is not the paint, it is the decorator. A skilled professional who preps properly will give you a finish that lasts for years, while a rushed job over poor preparation will show within months.

Search for a trusted local decorator near you on loacally to compare verified local tradespeople, read reviews and request quotes from decorators in your borough. If you would like more help choosing, our guide on how to find a trusted tradesperson in London walks through the checks that matter. Planning other work at the same time? See our guides on the cost to replace a bathroom tap and fuse box upgrade costs in London.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to paint a small bedroom in London? A small London bedroom usually costs between £200 and £900 to paint, covering walls and ceiling [1]. A simple refresh of sound walls sits near the bottom of that range at around £200 to £350, while a full job with filling, woodwork and premium paint moves towards the top. Most small bedrooms land in the middle.

How long does it take to decorate a room? A standard room takes most decorators one to two days. A simple repaint of walls in good condition can be done in a single day, while a full redecoration with preparation, ceiling and woodwork usually needs two days or more. Larger rooms, heavy prep or wallpapering all add time.

Is it cheaper to paint or wallpaper a room? Painting is usually cheaper. A typical repaint averages around £450, and so does wallpapering, but once you add stripping old paper, lining paper and the cost of the paper itself, wallpapering tends to cost more [1][6]. Wallpaper is best kept for a feature wall or a specific pattern.

Do decorators charge by the day or per room? Most decorators quote a fixed price for the whole job rather than a daily rate, which protects you from overruns. London day rates of roughly £250 to £350 are still useful as a sanity check [2][4]. A standard room of one to two days should broadly match the day rate against the quoted total.

Should I buy the paint or let the decorator supply it? Either works. Many decorators supply trade paint and pass on a small saving, while others are happy to use paint you provide, which is common if you want a premium brand. Agree this in advance and make sure the quote states clearly whether paint is included in the price.

Sources

1. Which? - How much do painters and decorators cost? - https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/finding-a-tradesperson/article/how-much-do-painters-and-decorators-cost-a01St5l9H20e - survey November 2025 (excludes VAT and wallpaper).
2. Checkatrade - Painter and decorator cost guide - https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/painter-decorator-prices/ - 2026.
3. Rated People - How much does a painter and decorator cost? - https://www.ratedpeople.com/blog/how-much-does-a-painter-and-decorator-cost - 2026.
4. MyJobQuote - Cost of painting a bedroom - https://www.myjobquote.co.uk/costs/painting-a-bedroom - updated May 2026.
5. MyBuilder - Cost of repainting ceilings - https://www.mybuilder.com/painting-decorating/price-guides/cost-of-repainting-ceilings - 2026.
6. Checkatrade - Wallpapering cost guide - https://www.checkatrade.com/blog/cost-guides/wallpapering-costs/ - 2026.
7. Gov.uk - VAT for builders: houses and flats - https://www.gov.uk/vat-builders - checked June 2026.
8. Gov.uk - Register for VAT - https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat - checked June 2026.
9. Citizens Advice - Before you get building work done - https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/ - checked June 2026.