Interior Painting in Chicago & the Suburbs

Interior painting is scoped room by room, not priced off a flat number. Wall and ceiling condition, ceiling height, trim and door count, plaster repair, and big color changes move the estimate more than square footage does — so two homes of the same size can price very differently. Older Chicago homes with plaster walls, ornate trim, or many layers of old paint need more prep. We give you a free, itemized, written estimate after walking the house. For what drives the price in more detail, see our interior painting cost guide.

Whatever you want painted. At the walkthrough we ask room by room — walls, ceilings, trim, doors, closets — and the estimate lists each item with its labor, paint, and sheen, plus any patching or plaster repair we found, furniture moving and protection, and daily cleanup. Nothing is left as "to be determined"; if something can't be scoped without more access, we tell you what we need to see first.

No. We move the furniture to the middle of each room and cover it. What we ask you to do is put away personal and fragile items — photos, décor, valuables — before we start. When we finish, the furniture goes back where it was.

Floors are covered with paper or tarps, furniture is covered in the middle of the room, and everything we are not painting is sealed off. On jobs with a lot of sanding — plaster repair, heavy patching — we also run air scrubbers to keep dust from traveling through the house. We clean up at the end of every day.

Yes. Most of our interior work is in lived-in homes. We work one area or section of the house at a time so the rest stays usable, and we plan the order around how you use the house — bedrooms you sleep in, the kitchen, a home office.

Not much. Our wall and ceiling paints are waterborne and low-VOC — Benjamin Moore rates ben at zero VOC and Regal Select under 50 grams per liter — so there's a mild paint smell while we work that fades quickly. Benjamin Moore asks for adequate ventilation, so a cracked window or a fan in the room helps it clear faster.

Our wall and ceiling paints are waterborne and low-VOC, and Benjamin Moore lists Regal Select, ben, and its Waterborne Ceiling Paint as certified to California's (CDPH) indoor emissions standard. While we work, keep kids and pets out of the rooms being painted — mostly so they stay clear of ladders, tools, and wet paint — and keep the room ventilated.

For walls, Benjamin Moore Regal Select or Benjamin Moore ben. For ceilings, Benjamin Moore Waterborne Ceiling Paint, an ultra-flat finish. For trim and doors, Benjamin Moore Advance or Coronado's door and trim enamel — both made to cure to a tough finish that stands up to repeated washing. For hallways and stairways, Benjamin Moore Scuff-X; for a washable flat, Fine Paints of Europe Eurolux. If you have a specific brand or color line in mind, tell us at the estimate.

For hallways, stairways, and other high-traffic common areas we recommend Benjamin Moore Scuff-X. Benjamin Moore built it for busy commercial spaces — it uses a patented scuff-resistant formula and is made to withstand repeated washing — which is exactly why it works on a family's busiest walls. It comes in matte through semi-gloss. It is what we recommend for any wall that takes constant traffic.

Yes. Standard flat paints give you that soft, no-shine look but usually don't hold up to scrubbing. If you love a true flat finish on walls that still need cleaning, we use Fine Paints of Europe Eurolux, a true flat-look wall paint rated Class 1 for wet-scrub resistance — the top class under the European EN 13300 standard. It's a specialty product, so we'll talk through where it makes sense at the estimate.

Two finish coats is our standard. Going from a dark color to a light one can need a third. Before the finish coats, every repair is primed, along with any surface that isn't sound.

On every patch and repair, and on any surface that isn't sound — oily or greasy areas, smoke or tar staining, and chalky old paint. Primer seals those spots so the finish coats bond and the color looks even. Sound, clean painted walls go straight to two finish coats.

Our usual spec is flat for ceilings, matte or eggshell for walls, and satin or semi-gloss for trim and doors. Flatter sheens hide wall flaws — helpful on older plaster — while higher sheens wipe clean more easily. See our guide to paint finishes and eggshell vs. satin for living rooms.

Yes — it's a big part of painting older Chicago homes. We open the crack slightly, repair it, and prime the repair before painting, rather than just painting over it. We point out every crack we plan to repair during the walkthrough so it's on your estimate.

Yes. Nail holes, dents, and small drywall damage are filled and patched, and gaps along trim are caulked, as part of prep. Larger damage can be repaired as part of the same project — see drywall repair. Every repair is primed before painting.

Yes — and you choose. At the estimate we ask room by room whether you want ceilings, trim, doors, and closet interiors included, and each one is listed on your estimate. If you're painting closet walls, please empty those closets first.

In empty homes, often — before a move-in or in new construction. In lived-in homes we can spray too, but it needs much more masking and isolation, so tell us at the estimate and we'll plan for it. Building a new home? See new construction painting.

A single room with standard prep and one color often takes about a day. A furnished 3-bedroom home typically takes 3 to 5 days. Ceiling height, trim, plaster repair, and the number of colors push it longer; a full-home repaint with heavy plaster work can run past a week. Your estimate commits to a timeline after we walk the house.

Yes — winter is interior season in Chicago, and our crews work inside from late fall through spring. Benjamin Moore's data sheets say not to paint when the air or surface temperature is below 50°F, so keep the heat at your normal setting in the rooms we're painting — don't turn it down at night. Don't use space heaters to speed drying; Benjamin Moore advises against it. Cool, humid air just means slower drying, which we plan for.

Yes. We offer a color consultation that considers your lighting, furnishings, and architecture, and we can brush out samples or a test wall so you see each color in your own light before full coats. Our free online Palette Finder quiz on the color consultation page generates a 5-color specification with paint names, codes, and finishes.

A room-by-room walkthrough with you, with touch-ups fixed on the spot. Then a paint schedule — every color, product, and sheen we used, room by room — and your leftover paint, so future touch-ups match.

Give new paint time to harden. Benjamin Moore says freshly painted walls can be washed after two weeks (light spot-cleaning is fine after a few hours), and the paint keeps hardening for about a month. For the first week or so, avoid pushing furniture tight against newly painted walls.

To clean: dust first, then use a soft, non-abrasive sponge with warm water and a little mild dish soap. Avoid Magic Erasers, scouring pads, glass cleaner, heavy-duty spray cleaners, bleach, ammonia, and alcohol — flat, matte, and eggshell finishes need the gentlest touch. For scuffs that won't wash off, use the leftover paint we leave you.

Yes. We do wallpaper removal, and we can schedule it as part of the same interior project so the walls are prepped and painted in one go.

Yes — a two-year workmanship warranty. If paint peels or blisters because of how it was applied, we come back and fix it at no cost. It doesn't cover stress cracks or settling cracks.

A 40% deposit holds your start date and locks your price. The balance is due after the final walkthrough, once you've signed off.

Yes. Condo work is mostly building coordination — we submit your building's certificate of insurance, reserve the freight elevator, work within the building's allowed hours, and use low-VOC paints suited to lived-in units. See our Chicago condo painting page for how it works in Gold Coast, River North, West Loop, and Streeterville buildings.