how much paint for projects (painting, sq ft, best, mount)

[bgmv90]

Is there a way to best guess how much paint you need to buy for a project? I don't want to buy a huge pail and then use a small amount. Thanks.

[campmom123]

The paint can's label usually tells you how much sq ft it covers. I've found it really depends on the kind of paint and what you're painting. If you have a good quality paint and a well-prepped surface, paint goes a lot farther than you'd think. But if you end up needing 3 coats to get it to cover well.....