Interior Painting Guide: Plan Your Home Repaint

Start with the rooms and the budget

List the rooms you want painted, then separate walls, ceilings, doors and trim. A wall-only refresh and a complete room repaint involve different preparation and detail work, even in the same space.

Our interior painting cost guide gives you a room schedule and a way to compare quote inclusions. Note which rooms matter most if you want to discuss staging the work.

Look at the surface before the colour

Walk through each room in daylight and note dents, loose paint, stains and areas that stay damp. Share what you know about previous coatings and repairs, rather than covering a problem before the assessment.

Use our wall preparation checklist to separate useful household preparation from the repair and coating work we will scope.

Decide what to do with wallpaper

Wallpaper can be a paintable base when it is sound and suitable for the chosen system. Lifting seams, bubbles, damp or a textured surface change that decision and the finish you can expect.

Our guide to painting over wallpaper explains what to look for before choosing between retaining the paper and discussing further preparation.

Choose finishes by surface and use

The sheen affects how light falls across a wall and how visible surface marks become. Choose walls, ceilings and trim as a coordinated set, rather than expecting one finish to suit every surface.

Compare paint finishes, including low sheen and satin, and record the product and finish with your colour choice.

Give bathrooms their own specification

Bathroom walls and ceilings need a coating system suited to their surface and moisture exposure. Ventilation and the condition beneath the paint still matter, even when the coating is intended for a wet room.

Read our bathroom paint guide before finalising the finish schedule.

Start here

1. Make your room list with the interior budget worksheet.
2. Record the condition of each room with the preparation checklist.
3. Choose a surface-by-surface finish using the sheen comparison.

Then bring the list to your site visit. Our interior painting service in Wellington covers walls, ceilings, doors and trim, with the work sequence planned around your household.

Explore the interior guides

• Interior Painting Costs in NZ: Plan Your RepaintUnderstand what changes an interior painting quote. Use our room-by-room scope and inclusion checklist to plan a Wellington home repaint.
• Painting Over Wallpaper: When It Works and What to CheckCan you paint over wallpaper? Check its condition, surface and seams before deciding. Plan suitable preparation for your Wellington interior repaint.
• Best Paint for Bathrooms: Choosing a Suitable FinishChoose suitable paint for bathroom walls and ceilings. Compare moisture exposure, preparation and finish needs before a Wellington bathroom repaint.
• Paint Finishes: Choosing Sheen for Walls, Ceilings and TrimCompare flat, low-sheen, satin and gloss paint finishes. Choose a practical sheen for each interior surface with Refresh Painters in Wellington.
• How to Prepare Walls for PaintingPlan wall preparation before painting, from checking old coatings and repairing defects to cleaning, priming and agreeing the scope.