Accent Wall Paint Calculator: How Much Paint for One Wall

One wall, not a whole room

Here the paint calculator starts in One wall mode. Instead of length, width and ceiling height it asks for the wall’s width and height, so the result is the paint for that wall alone: a feature wall behind a bed or sofa, a chimney breast, a wall you are repainting after a repair. The wall starts with no doors or windows; press + on a row if yours has one and type its size.

The 12 × 8 ft wall it opens with is 96 sq ft. Two coats, at a gallon per 400 sq ft, make 0.48 gallons, and the calculator suggests two quarts rather than a gallon that would leave half of it over. Switch to metres and a 3.6 × 2.4 m wall takes 1.7 litres, two 1-litre tins or one 2.5-litre tin.

Two colours on one wall

Tick Two colours on this wall for a two-tone wall or a block of colour. Enter the part in the second colour as a rectangle: for a lower band, the wall’s width by the band’s height; for a vertical stripe or a painted headboard shape, its own width and height. The calculator takes that area out of the main colour and gives each colour its own amount and cans. Any door or window is subtracted from the main colour, so if a door sits inside the band, reduce the band’s size by hand.

Small amounts and deep colours

A single wall often needs less than a gallon or a 2.5-litre tin, which is why the can advice matters here: tick only the sizes your shop sells and where fewer, larger cans would waste little, the calculator shows that mix too. Deep accent colours over a pale wall may need a third coat, and the makers say so: see the questions below. If you paint the rest of the room too, switch back to Rooms and add the room, or open the room size chart for common rooms.

Paint for one wall

A wall with no door or window, at 400 sq ft per gallon or 10 m² per litre, and the cans for two coats with the least left over.