Just bought a house? Get it painted before you move in
There's a short, golden window after you get the keys and before your furniture arrives when the house is completely empty. It is, without question, the best time to redecorate — faster, cheaper, and done before you've unpacked a single box.
The mistake most people make is moving in first, "settling", and then trying to paint around a house full of furniture. That turns a one-week job into a six-month saga of shifting sofas and half-finished rooms. Do it empty and it's simply finished.
Price the whole house from your plan
Upload the floor plan, we read the rooms, you get a fixed price — no visit needed.
Quote from my floor plan →Why an empty house is the right time
- Full access to every room — no working around beds, wardrobes and boxes.
- Skirtings, doors and frames done properly, with nothing pushed up against fresh paint.
- Faster, so cheaper — no daily moving and covering of your belongings.
- No living in disruption — you arrive to a finished, fresh home.
- Easier colour changes — covering the previous owner's bold walls is simpler with empty rooms.
What it actually saves you
Beyond the lower price, the real saving is hassle. Painting an occupied home means someone is home for access, rooms are out of use, and the whole place feels unsettled for weeks. Empty, the crew works straight through and hands you back a finished house.
| Job | Empty, before move-in | Occupied, after move-in |
|---|---|---|
| Access & set-up | Full house, one set-up | Room by room, repeated |
| Woodwork & skirtings | Clean, unobstructed | Working around furniture |
| Disruption to you | None — you're not there yet | Weeks of living around it |
| Typical cost | Lowest | Higher |
For the whole-house totals themselves, see our cost to paint a 3-bed house and 4-bed detached guides.
What to get done first, while it's empty
If budget means you can't do everything at once, prioritise the jobs that are hardest to do later with furniture in:
- Ceilings — messy and awkward once rooms are furnished.
- Hallway, stairs and landing — high, tall, and constantly in use once you're in.
- Whole-room repaints where you're changing colour — much easier empty.
- Woodwork and skirtings throughout, so nothing gets knocked before it cures.
Timing it around your move
The trick is to reserve your decorating slot before completion, so it lines up with the keys. A typical sequence:
- Price it from the plan during the buying process and reserve a start date.
- Complete and collect the keys.
- We decorate the empty house — a few days for most homes.
- Your removals go in to a finished, fresh property.
Pricing it without measuring
You often won't want to spend the empty days measuring rooms, and you don't need to. Upload the floor plan from the listing and our tool reads every room and estimates its size, giving you a fixed, itemised price for the whole house with materials included. Confirm the rooms, choose walls-only or a full redecoration, set your colours, and reserve your dates — all before you've moved a thing.
Move into a finished home
Get your fixed price from the floor plan and book the empty window.
Quote from my floor plan →Frequently asked questions
Should I paint a new house before moving in?
If the house needs decorating, doing it empty before you move in is almost always the best option. There's no furniture to move or cover, decorators have full access to every room, and you move into a finished home instead of living around the work for weeks. It's usually cheaper too, because the job is faster without belongings in the way.
How quickly can you paint a whole house?
An empty house moves quickly. A full interior repaint of a typical 3-bed takes around 4 to 8 working days depending on woodwork and repairs; walls and ceilings only is faster. We give you a realistic day count with your quote and confirm the dates before we start, so you can plan your move around it.
Can you paint between completion and my move-in date?
Yes, and that gap is the ideal slot. Reserve a start date in advance and we can begin the week you get the keys, finishing before the removal van arrives. If your dates move, we adjust the start to match.
How do I get a price if I don't have measurements yet?
Upload the floor plan from the listing. Our tool reads the rooms and estimates their sizes, so you get a fixed price for the whole house without measuring or waiting for a visit. You confirm the rooms and choose what to paint, and the quote is itemised with materials included.