Painting a single room in Ottawa costs roughly $450 to $1,100 in 2026, with a standard 12' × 12' bedroom with 8-foot ceilings typically landing between $500 and $750 for walls only, two coats, using quality paint. Priced by area, professional painters here work out to about $3.50–$7 per square foot of floor space for walls, or roughly $1.75–$3.50 per square foot of wall surface. Adding the ceiling costs another $150–$350 per room, and painting trim, baseboards, and doors adds $200–$500 because it is slow, detail-heavy brushwork. Ottawa painters generally charge $45–$75 per hour when billing ho...
Size and complexity drive the number more than anything. A small bedroom or home office of roughly 10' × 10' costs about $400–$600 for walls in two coats. A standard 12' × 12' bedroom lands at $500–$750. A typical living room around 15' × 20' runs $800–$1,300. A small bathroom, despite the tiny footprint, often costs $350–$550 because of the cut-in work around vanities, mirrors, tile, and fixtures, plus the need for moisture-resistant paint. Hallways and stairwells are the surprise expense: an open two-storey stairwell frequently costs $700–$1,400 on its own because painters need scaffolding or plank setups to safely reach the high walls. Ceilings add $150–$350 per room, and a full room including walls, ceiling, trim, doors, and closet typically runs $1,100–$1,900. Most Ottawa painters have a minimum job charge in the $400–$500 range, so painting one small room alone rarely comes in cheaper than that floor.
Per-room pricing drops noticeably when you book several rooms at once, since setup, masking, and mobilization are shared. Three bedrooms painted together often cost 15–25% less per room than the same three booked separately.
A proper Ottawa painting quote covers moving and covering furniture, floor protection, taping and masking, filling nail holes and minor dents, light sanding, spot priming, two finish coats, and full cleanup. What is often excluded — and where quotes diverge — is significant drywall repair, wallpaper removal, priming over dark or bold colours, and painting inside closets. Wallpaper removal is the classic budget killer in older Ottawa homes and commonly adds $300–$900 per room depending on how many layers and how much skim coating the walls need afterward. Covering a deep red or navy accent wall with a light colour requires a tinted primer plus two coats, adding $100–$200. Popcorn or textured ceilings, still common in 1970s and 1980s homes across Alta Vista and Nepean, cost 20–40% more to paint than flat ceilings because they soak up more product and cannot be rolled quickly. Always confirm how many coats are quoted; a suspiciously cheap bid is usually a one-coat bid.
Paint itself is a smaller share of a professional job than most people expect — typically 15–25% of the total. In 2026, a gallon of quality interior latex from Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, or Behr's premium lines costs about $60–$95 at Ottawa retailers, and a standard 12' × 12' bedroom needs roughly two gallons for two coats on walls. Contractor-grade paint runs $35–$50 per gallon but usually needs an extra coat to cover properly, which erases the savings once labour is factored in. Finish matters for durability: matte and eggshell hide wall imperfections and suit bedrooms and living rooms, while satin and semi-gloss are washable and belong in kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, and on trim. Ask whether the painter supplies the paint or whether it is billed separately — both are common in Ottawa, and it changes the comparison between quotes substantially. Painters typically get 20–30% trade discounts, so having them supply the material is often cheaper than buying it yourself.
Nearly all premium interior lines are now low- or zero-VOC, which matters in Ottawa where you may be painting in February with the windows closed. It costs no extra and dramatically reduces odour and off-gassing.
Painting one bedroom yourself costs roughly $120–$220 in materials: two gallons of quality paint ($120–$190), plus rollers, brushes, tape, drop cloths, and filler for another $50–$80 if you own nothing. Against a $500–$750 professional quote, the savings are real, but so is the time — expect 8 to 12 hours for a first-timer doing a single room properly, including prep. DIY makes the most sense for a simple square bedroom with 8-foot ceilings and no repairs needed. It makes much less sense for stairwells and cathedral ceilings where working at height is genuinely dangerous, for rooms needing real drywall repair, for wallpaper removal, and for trim and door work where a brush line that is not razor-straight will bother you every day. Many Ottawa homeowners split the difference: DIY the bedrooms, hire out the stairwell, main-floor open plan, and all the trim.
Get three written quotes and make sure each one states the same scope: which surfaces are included (walls, ceiling, trim, doors, closets), how many coats, whether primer is included, who supplies the paint and which product line and sheen, what prep and repair is covered, and whether furniture moving and cleanup are in the price. Vague quotes are where disputes start. Verify the painter carries general liability insurance and WSIB clearance — no licence is required for painting in Ontario, which means credential checking falls entirely to you. Ask for recent local references and photos of comparable work, and confirm the timeline in writing, including how many days the crew will be in your home. Watch for large upfront deposits; 10–20% is normal for a residential paint job, and demands for half the money before any work starts are a warning sign. A little verification before you sign prevents most of the problems homeowners run into.
In 2026, painting a room in Ottawa costs about $450–$1,100. A standard 12' × 12' bedroom runs $500–$750 for walls in two coats, a 15' × 20' living room runs $800–$1,300, and adding the ceiling costs another $150–$350.
Ottawa painters typically charge $45–$75 per hour, though most residential interior work is quoted by the room or by the project rather than hourly. Most companies also have a minimum job charge around $400–$500.
A standard 12' × 12' bedroom costs about $500–$750 for walls with two coats of quality paint. Adding the ceiling brings it to roughly $650–$1,050, and including trim, doors, and the closet pushes it to $1,100–$1,900.
A 12' × 12' room with 8-foot ceilings needs about two gallons of paint for two coats on the walls, plus roughly one gallon for the ceiling. Quality interior latex runs $60–$95 per gallon in Ottawa in 2026.
Yes on materials — a DIY bedroom costs about $120–$220 versus $500–$750 professionally — but it takes a first-timer 8 to 12 hours including prep. DIY works well for simple square rooms and poorly for stairwells, high ceilings, wallpaper removal, and trim work.
Both arrangements are common in Ottawa. Painters usually receive 20–30% trade discounts, so having them supply the material is often cheaper. Just confirm which product line and sheen are included so you can compare quotes fairly.