Faux Painting for Profit

I will go ahead and try to break them down one by one and then you will need to try to come up with your own conclusion.  Let me just reiterate that because you are a beginner, you should probably start lower on the price scale and then work your way up, as you gain skill and experience. 

Time – This goes along with what type of job.  Like I said, each different job will take a different amount of time.  You may need to come up with an hourly rate and then multiply it with how long you think it may take.  I always add a few hours in case of mess-ups or mistakes on my part.  Try not to tell your client what your hourly rate is.  They may blurt it to all their friends and neighbors, and then you are stuck charging them the same price.  Maybe start at $20 per hour, get a few jobs under your belt, build up your picture portfolio and then gradually add $5 an hour every 6 months or so. 

Materials – Always minus your materials cost.  If you are not sure of the materials cost when meeting with a client, then let them know you will get back with them to give them the price.  You may be able to give them a ballpark price, but nothing set in stone.  The price of paint goes up all the time and you want to make sure you are charging them correctly.  Also, even if you are using your own paints and materials left over from another job – you can charge them for it.  Do not tell them how you charge, just tell them what the final price will be.  It is none of their business how you decide to run your business.

Location – This is a tough one, because the cost of living may be substantially lower in some areas than others.  If I go into a million dollar home, I don't charge my middle class home price.  If I am doing work for a church or a school, I don't charge them my million dollar prices.  A good way to tell the cost of living in your area is to check out the average price of a home.  For instance in the Carolinas, a 3 bedroom new home may go for $250,000, but here in NY the average 3 bedroom home can cost over $600,000.  So I can obviously charge much more per hour than I would be able to in the Carolinas. 

Business Expenses – As you establish your business, you will start to build up monthly business expenses for things like: insurance, marketing, advertising, website, etc.  All of this should be considered as well when you are pricing a job.  You may want to average out what your expenses are and then add that to the final price of the job.

So, these are the few things that I would focus on when learning how to charge for a mural or faux finish.  As you familiarize yourself with working and figuring out how long a certain job will take, it will get easier.  You will become more confident and you can then raise your prices.