If you've ever asked Google "how much paint for a 2BHK?" you've probably gotten 10 different answers ranging from 40 litres to 80 litres. Most of them are wrong because they skip the math and just give round numbers.
Here's the actual calculation, worked through for a typical 1200 sqft 2BHK apartment in Chennai. By the end of this post you'll have a 5-line shopping list with real prices — or you can just punch your own numbers into our Paint Calculator and skip the math entirely.
🧮 Skip the math: Use the Suppliable Paint Calculator — punch in wall length, height, number of walls and number of coats, get litres + pack sizes + live cost in 2 seconds.
The 2BHK we're estimating
Standard Chennai 2BHK floor plan:
| Room | Floor area | Wall area (×3.5) |
|---|---|---|
| Living + dining | 350 sqft | 1,000 sqft |
| Master bedroom | 150 sqft | 480 sqft |
| Bedroom 2 | 120 sqft | 380 sqft |
| Kitchen | 100 sqft | 320 sqft |
| Bathroom × 2 | 80 sqft | 250 sqft |
| Circulation | 100 sqft | 320 sqft |
| Total | 900 sqft | ~2,750 sqft |
Subtract doors (5 × 21 = 105 sqft) and windows (8 × 12 = 96 sqft): net 2,550 sqft of interior wall.
For exteriors, assume 1,800 sqft of external wall on a ground-floor independent house. (For an apartment, skip the exterior — that's the builder's problem.)
Interior paint — Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion
The workhorse interior paint for value Chennai builds. Official coverage: 140 sqft per litre per coat. 2 coats standard.
Litres = (2,550 sqft × 2 coats) ÷ 140 sqft/L
= 5,100 ÷ 140
= 36.4 L
Round up to 40 L: one 20 L bucket + two 10 L cans. At Suppliable's live price of ~₹190/L (1 L pricing; cheaper per litre at bucket sizes), that's roughly ₹6,500 in interior paint.
If you want the premium feel in just the living room, swap to Royale Luxury Emulsion for that one room — costs about ₹3,000 more for 8 litres but gives the washable smooth finish that scrubs clean.
Exterior paint — Asian Paints Ace Exterior Emulsion
For the external walls. Official coverage: 110 sqft per litre per coat. 2 coats standard.
Litres = (1,800 × 2) ÷ 110
= 3,600 ÷ 110
= 32.7 L
Round up to 35 L: one 20 L bucket + one 10 L can + one 4 L can. At ~₹250/L, that's ~₹8,750 in exterior paint.
Primer
You need primer under both interior and exterior paint. Wall primer covers about 140 sqft/L (1 coat). Total wall area = 2,550 + 1,800 = 4,350 sqft.
Primer litres = 4,350 ÷ 140 = 31 L
Round to 35 L for the priming pass. At ~₹220/L, that's ~₹7,700.
Wall putty
Coverage: ~50 sqft per kg for 2 thin coats. For interior walls only (you'd skip on exterior unless it's badly damaged plaster):
Putty kg = 2,550 ÷ 50 = 51 kg
Round to 60 kg: 3 bags of Asian Paints TruCare Wall Putty 20 kg. At ~₹620 per bag, that's ₹1,860.
The shopping list
| Item | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Asian Paints TruCare Wall Putty 20 kg | 3 bags | ₹1,860 |
| Asian Paints Wall Primer (10 L) | 4 cans | ₹8,800 |
| Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion (20 L bucket + 10 L) | 1 + 2 | ₹6,500 |
| Asian Paints Ace Exterior Emulsion (20 + 10 + 4 L) | 1 + 1 + 1 | ₹8,750 |
| Rollers, brushes, putty knife | assorted | ₹1,200 |
| Materials total | ~₹27,100 |
Add ₹15–₹25 per sqft labour: ₹38,000–₹64,000 for a full 2BHK paint job. Total project: ~₹65,000–₹90,000 with materials.
Common mistakes that wreck the estimate
- Forgetting to multiply by coats. People estimate single-coat coverage. Triples the under-order risk.
- Using exterior coverage for interior or vice-versa. Tractor's 140 sqft/L is not Ace's 110 sqft/L.
- Counting only floor area instead of wall area. Wall area = ~3.5 × floor area for standard 10 ft ceiling rooms.
- Skipping primer. Primer at ₹220/L is cheaper than the repainting you'll do in 18 months without it.
Save 10 minutes with the calculator
Instead of doing this math for every project, just use the Paint Calculator — enter wall length, height, walls and coats, pick interior or exterior, and it returns the same shopping list with live pricing in under 2 seconds. Tap WhatsApp this estimate to send the whole BOM to our team and have it delivered to your Chennai site in 60 minutes.
Need a custom calculation? WhatsApp +91 87786 27926 with your floor plan or square footage and we'll send the full paint BOM within an hour.
🧮 Free tool: Try our Paint Calculator — the same calculation as above, instant, with live prices.