Whole-House Repaint in a Middle TN Modern Farmhouse
Table of Contents
Planning a project? See Interior Painting in Nashville, TN for free, fixed-price quotes from Those Guys Painting Co.
Quick answer: A full interior repaint of a 2-story modern farmhouse in Middle Tennessee, including a 20-foot vaulted great room and two-story stairwell, took our crew 5 working days. We patched, sanded, caulked, and applied two coats of eggshell to every wall, plus two doors, while the homeowners were out of town.
When a homeowner searches for a whole-house interior repaint in Middle Tennessee, they usually want to know two things: how long will it take, and will the crew do right by the house while they're not standing over it. We just finished exactly that kind of job on a 2021 modern farmhouse — two stories of fiber cement construction with a 20-foot vaulted great room — and the homeowners were out of town for the entire thing.
What condition were the walls in before we started?
The walls throughout the house were finished in flat paint, mostly white or off-white, with three colored bedrooms upstairs: a deep teal primary, a blue-gray, and a sage. Flat paint looks fine on day one, but it doesn't hold up to daily family life — fingerprints, furniture bumps, and cleaning attempts tend to leave marks or burnish the surface. The homeowners wanted a sheen upgrade that could actually take the wear.
Why eggshell instead of flat
Eggshell sits in the middle of the sheen scale: more washable and more durable than flat, without the glare of satin or semi-gloss on large wall areas. For a family home with two full floors of living space, it's a practical trade-off. We applied two full coats of eggshell to every interior wall on both levels.
How long does a whole-house interior repaint take?
This job took 5 working days from first patch to final coat. That timeline covered prep, two coats everywhere, two interior doors painted on both sides, and trim touch-up spots. Houses with more complex geometry — vaulted ceilings, multiple stories, lots of cut-in work around trim — sit at the longer end of that kind of schedule compared to a single-story home with simple rooflines.
| Day | Work completed |
|---|---|
| 1 | Furniture moved to room centers, floors and trim protected, nail holes and dings patched |
| 2 | Pole-sanded all walls with 220-grit for adhesion, caulked wall-to-trim gaps, masked outlets and trim |
| 3 | First coat of eggshell on main-level walls and great room, including vaulted ceiling cut-in |
| 4 | First coat upstairs, second coat on main level, doors painted both sides |
| 5 | Second coat upstairs, final touch-ups, walkthrough and cleanup |
What colors were used in this house?
We worked with six colors across the home: SW 7010 White Duck and SW 7009 Pearly White for the main living areas and trim-adjacent walls, SW 7005 Pure White in select spaces, and three accent colors upstairs — SW 6215 Rocky River, SW 0031 Blue Dutch Tile, and SW 6178 Clary Sage. You can see the full range in the Sherwin-Williams color library if you want to look up exact swatches before choosing your own palette. If you're weighing a bold wall against a neutral palette, our accent wall painting guide walks through how to pick one that won't fight the rest of the room.
How do you paint a 20-foot vaulted ceiling and a two-story stairwell?
Carefully, and with the right ladders. The great room in this house has a 20-foot vaulted ceiling with painted beams and a clerestory window band, and the stairwell runs a full two stories. Both required extension ladders and deliberate cutting-in at height — there's no shortcut for getting a clean line where a sloped ceiling meets a wall thirty feet in the air. This is the kind of detail that separates a tidy repaint from one where you can spot roller lines or missed corners once the sun hits the wall at an angle.
Trim work at that height matters just as much as the wall color. If your home has similar vaulted spaces, decorative beams, or stairwell millwork, our trim and molding painting services cover exactly this kind of detail work.
What prep work actually happens before the paint goes on?
Good prep is most of what makes a repaint last. On this job that meant:
- Patching nail holes and dings across both levels
- Pole-sanding all walls with 220-grit sandpaper so the new paint would actually bond
- Caulking gaps where walls meet trim, for a cleaner finished line
- Masking trim, baseboards, and outlets throughout the house
- Moving furniture to the center of each room and covering it with plastic
- Protecting floors in every room before any paint was opened
Skipping any one of these steps shows up later — peeling at patched spots, paint bonding poorly to a glossy old surface, or caulk lines that crack within a year. The Painting Contractors Association outlines similar prep standards for interior work, and it's worth asking any painter you're considering whether sanding and caulking are included or billed separately.
Do you need to be home while the crew paints your house?
No — this job is proof of that. The homeowners were out of town for the entire 5 days. We moved and protected their furniture, worked room by room, and left the house clean at the end of each day. If leaving your home unattended during a repaint is a concern, it helps to walk through the scope and schedule in a quote conversation first so you know exactly what to expect before you leave.
What does a whole-house interior repaint cost?
Every home is different, but whole-home interior repaints in our area typically run $1,700 to $6,300, with the middle project landing around $3,350. Where a specific job falls in that range depends on square footage, ceiling height, number of colors, and how much prep and trim work is involved — a two-story home with a vaulted great room and stairwell, like this one, sits toward the more involved end of that spread. For a closer look at a similar scope, our whole-home interior painting case study covers another full-house job start to finish, and our condo touch-up case study shows what a smaller-scale repaint looks like by comparison.
Should every room be the same color?
Not necessarily — this house kept most walls in two closely related neutrals while letting three upstairs bedrooms carry their own color identity. That approach gives a home a cohesive feel on the main living areas while still letting bedrooms reflect the people who use them. If you're not sure which rooms should stay neutral and which can carry color, a color consultation is a good next step before paint goes on any wall.
If your own home needs a full interior refresh, a sheen upgrade, or just has a tricky vaulted space you're not sure how to tackle, you can get a free quote and we'll walk the house with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to repaint the interior of an entire house?
For a two-story home with varied ceiling heights and multiple rooms, 5 working days is a realistic timeline when prep, two coats, and trim touch-ups are all included. Simpler layouts can go faster; vaulted ceilings and stairwells add time because of ladder work and careful cutting-in.
Is eggshell a good choice for walls in a house with kids?
Yes. Eggshell is more washable and more durable than flat paint, which makes it a practical choice for walls that get bumped, touched, and occasionally cleaned. It still looks soft rather than shiny, so it works well in living rooms and bedrooms alike.
Can a painting crew work in my house while I'm out of town?
Yes, this is common for whole-house repaints. Furniture gets moved to the center of rooms and covered, floors are protected, and the crew works room by room. It helps to walk through the scope and access details with your painter ahead of time.
Do you need to sand walls before repainting them?
Pole-sanding with a fine grit like 220 is standard prep because it helps the new paint bond to the existing finish, especially over older flat paint. Skipping this step can lead to poor adhesion and early wear.
How do painters reach a 20-foot vaulted ceiling?
Extension ladders and careful planning. Cutting in a clean line where a sloped ceiling meets a wall at that height takes more time than a standard 8 or 9-foot ceiling, which is one reason vaulted great rooms add to a project's overall schedule.
Should I paint over colored accent walls with the same color as the rest of the house?
That depends on the look you want. In this home, three upstairs bedrooms kept their own accent colors while the main living areas shared two neutral tones, giving the house a cohesive feel without making every room identical.
