Here's How Often You Should Repaint Your Walls

Painting your interior walls is probably not high on your chore list. It's expensive, time-consuming, and may even seem unnecessary. But after several years of wear and tear, nicks, scrapes, and discoloration from weather changes can do a number on the appearance of your walls. Changing tastes and fluctuating home design trends can also inspire you to repaint your walls, but just how often should it be done?

Some rooms, like your bathroom or kitchen experience lots of changes in temperature, humidity, and air quality and may need to be repainted more than say a bedroom, office, or living room, notes PaintRite Pros. Each room is pretty much on its own schedule, and factors like pets, children, or smoking indoors can affect the time between painting. Generally, though, Woodiwiss Painting recommends repainting the interior of your home every seven years or so, but non-smokers and those without children or pets can go up to 10 years.

When repainting interior walls, you need to consider which rooms get the most wear and tear. High-traffic areas like hallways, corridors, and stairwells, for example, are often nicked and dented. Frequently walking through them inevitably results in more damage, while those with pets or children may have frequent messes and spills. This is why PaintRite Pros recommends repainting your hallways every couple of years.

Rooms that are frequently used, like kitchens and bathrooms, are also high on the painting priority list. Since there are more elements at play, like heat, moisture, and steam, there is inevitably going to be more damage. Kitchen walls may start to chip, flake, or discolor from cooking, and can easily become stained by food. According to Joaquin Painting, you should aim to repaint them every three to four years if possible, and opt for a protective or waterproof topcoat for added durability.

Other rooms, like living rooms, dining rooms, home offices, and bedrooms, need to be repainted less often, but this frequency depends on the amount of use and mess those rooms see. Bedrooms don't usually need to be repainted that frequently, at least when it comes to an adult's room. Generally, every five to seven years is a good time frame, suggests PaintRite Pros. On the other hand, there are several reasons why children's bedrooms may need repainting more often, including changing tastes, drawing on the wall, messes, wall nicks, etc. Use your best judgment, but three to five years is a good estimate.

According to Joaquin Painting, other rooms that don't experience frequent traffic only need to be repainted every five to seven years. In addition,  if you use high-quality paint with a sealant layer, rooms with little to no traffic, like spare bedrooms, may not need to be repainted for as many as 10 years.