What should be optional in a painting proposal?

In this template: Ceilings ($220.00 USD per room), Trim, doors and baseboards ($250.00 USD per room), Drywall repair ($80.00 USD per hour). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

Pricing guide for painters

How much to charge for painting

Updated October 23, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the painting template.

Example starting total$3,080.00 USD

Short answer: Price painting as one fixed line (walls, per room at $550.00 USD) with a starting total of $3,080.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (ceilings, trim, doors and baseboards, drywall repair) the client can switch on, and quantities the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

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Below: the price lines from our painting quote, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to show it so the client accepts instead of haggling.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Walls, per roomPrep and two coats, paint included	$550.00 USD per room	IncludedClient picks 1 to 20
CeilingsPer room, flat white	$220.00 USD per room	Optional, on by defaultClient picks 1 to 20
Trim, doors and baseboardsPer room, semi-gloss	$250.00 USD per room	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 1 to 20
Drywall repairLarger patches, per hour	$80.00 USD per hour	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 1 to 20

Starting total with the defaults on: $3,080.00 USD, before the client chooses among 3 optional lines, with 4 quantities the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

Trades quotes are compared side by side, often on a phone, so the total has to be obvious and the scope written in words a homeowner uses. Materials, labour and what happens if the wall is not what you expected, each on its own line.

A fixed price for the defined job and optional lines for the things clients always ask about mid-way: the extra bed, the second coat, the seasonal visit. When they are on the page from the start, nobody feels upsold.

Deposit and payment stages belong in the proposal. A client who has accepted a page that says "40 percent to book, balance on completion" has agreed to it, and the signed record proves it.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for painting?: Price painting as one fixed line (walls, per room at $550.00 USD) with a starting total of $3,080.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (ceilings, trim, doors and baseboards, drywall repair) the client can switch on, and quantities the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a painting proposal?: In this template: Ceilings ($220.00 USD per room), Trim, doors and baseboards ($250.00 USD per room), Drywall repair ($80.00 USD per hour). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present painting pricing so it gets accepted?: Trades quotes are compared side by side, often on a phone, so the total has to be obvious and the scope written in words a homeowner uses. Materials, labour and what happens if the wall is not what you expected, each on its own line.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Walls, per room is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Ceilings, Trim, doors and baseboards, Drywall repair sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real quote, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on a phone or laptop, picks the extras, and taps Accept. You both get the signed PDF.

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