Black paint for a feature wall
Updated: 22 October 2026
You are painting the wall behind the bed, not the room, and the 1.25 L tin looked like enough until the first pass went streaky at the skirting. Black paint for a feature wall is a small area with a high chance that a headboard, a sofa or a desk chair will rub it. This page stays on that one wall. Whole-room coat counts sit on the [how to paint a wall black](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/black-wall-paint/sub/black-wall-paint-how-to-apply) page. The [black wall paint comparison](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/black-wall-paint) holds the other tins. Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are painting the wall behind the bed, not the room, and the 1.25 L tin looked like enough until the first pass went streaky at the skirting.
You are painting the wall behind the bed, not the room, and the 1.25 L tin looked like enough until the first pass went streaky at the skirting. Black paint for a feature wall is a small area with a high chance that a headboard, a sofa or a desk chair will rub it. This page stays on that one wall. Whole-room coat counts sit on the how to paint a wall black page. The black wall paint comparison holds the other tins. Peter F., editor for DIY & tools, did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Volume | Coverage | Coats | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Johnstone's Johnstone's soft sheen black 2.5 L | 2.5 L | 12 m² per litre | Two over white | 9.2 | about £16.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Johnstone's Johnstone's matt black 2.5 L | 2.5 L | 32 m² a tin | Two coats | 8.3 | about £16.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Dulux Dulux Simply Refresh Rich Black 1.25 L | 1.25 L | 16 m² per tin | One coat | 6.9 | about £23.50 | View offer |
On this page
One wall, not a room
A single wall of 3.0 m by 2.4 m is 7.2 m². At about 12 m² per litre, ordinary emulsion uses about 0.6 L a coat, so two coats are about 1.2 L before waste. That is why a 1.25 L tin can be a one-wall tin and a 2.5 L tin is the volume for more than one wall, or for two coats with paint left over. Dulux has also written that one 1.25 L tin of this range will cover two walls of an average-sized room. Two walls at 7.2 m² are 14.4 m². That claim fights the load rule, so follow the load rule.
The 2.5 L Johnstone's and Crown tins are for more than this one wall. If the feature is actually two walls and the ceiling, you have left this page.
What Simply Refresh Rich Black claims
Dulux Simply Refresh Rich Black is a 1.25 L water-based matt at £23.50, about £18.80 a litre. The amazon listing states 16 m² for the tin, touch dry in 4 hours and full cure in 24 hours, and the bullets say one coat. Dulux's own feature-wall page states up to 10 m² per litre, which on 1.25 L is 12.5 m², not 16 m². Keep those figures apart. A 7.2 m² wall sits inside both, so one careful coat can cover it.
The star line is 4.4 from 59 ratings. Reviewers report one coat over white, a jet black, leftover paint, a lingering smell, and also chips where furniture rubs. The surface field says Metal, which conflicts with a plaster wall. Ignore it. There is no badge on this ASIN. The top pick and the best value in the comparison are the Johnstone's pair. Dulux's guarantee on the feature-wall page is conditional: the instructions followed, a time limit the maker states, proof of purchase, a UK address, and inspection reserved. This page does not promise that guarantee.
How the one coat has to go on
Prepare the wall as you would for any interior emulsion: clean, dry, filled, and a wet key if the old paint is sound and glossy. If that one wall is pre-1980s and the paint is sound, HSE says wet-key and overcoat. Do not dry-sand it. Then brush the edges. Dulux says a medium-pile roller and no more than 0.5 m² per roller load. On a 7.2 m² wall that is about fifteen loads, not three long sweeps from a starving sleeve. Lay the film and leave it.
The failure mode is a second coat you did not plan, or a first coat you watered down. If the wall flashes and you can see the old colour in bands, you overspread. The maker's answer is not to thin the paint. It is the load limit, and if you have already stretched it, another coat after the 4 hour touch dry. Full cure on the listing is 24 hours, so do not shove the bed back the same evening and then blame the chips on the colour. A patchy black feature wall is almost always thin film.
Where a feature wall gets ruined
The wall behind a sofa or a bed is exactly where a dead matt gets rubbed. Reviews on this Dulux tin include chips where furniture rubs, and a matt that marked and was then overcoated with silk. That is the same burnish you see on other flat blacks, on a smaller sample. A feature wall people lean on is a poor place for the flattest film in the tin, even when the one-coat story worked. The matt versus soft sheen page is the finish argument.
Do not treat this paint as chalkboard paint. It is an emulsion. It will not take chalk cleanly, and writing on it is a good way to find the mark reviews already describe. Smell is in the reviews as well, so ventilate, and do not sleep against a film that is only touch dry. If mould is the reason the wall is being painted black, this is the wrong product. An anti-mould tin does not repair a leak either. Scuffs are a finish problem. Damp is a building problem.
When to use a normal 2.5 L matt instead
Use the Johnstone's matt, £16.99 for 2.5 L, about £6.80 a litre, when you already know you need two coats, a second wall, or paint left for a later touch-up that a 1.25 L tin will not spare. The listing states 32 m² for the tin. Reviewers say a light touch marks it, so it has the same scuff limit as the Dulux matt, at a much lower price per litre, and it is not sold as one coat. Johnstone's says two coats and another over a strong contrast.
Use Crown Grey Black at £22.20 if you want a dark grey rather than Rich Black, a stated 14 m² per litre, and a maximum VOC of 1 g/l, still as a low-touch matt. Skip both 2.5 L matts when the brief was one thick coat tonight and the furniture goes back tomorrow. That brief is the Dulux tin, loaded properly, with the chip risk accepted. The best black paint for walls page lines the six tins up by job if this wall is no longer the only question.
Common questions
Will one tin of 1.25 L cover a feature wall?
One wall of about 7.2 m², yes, if you follow the 0.5 m² roller-load rule and you are not painting a second wall from the same tin. Dulux states up to 10 m² per litre, which is 12.5 m² from 1.25 L. The amazon listing states 16 m² for the tin. Those are different sums. A 7.2 m² wall fits both.
What does the one-coat guarantee actually require?
Dulux ties it to the instructions: the load limit, the 4 hour wait, touch-up from the same tin, and the other conditions on the feature-wall page, including proof of purchase and a UK address, with inspection reserved. This page cannot promise a payout. If you spread the tin across two walls or thin it with water, you have left the instruction the claim depends on.
Why did my black feature wall go patchy?
The roller was covering too much wall per load. Dulux caps a load at about 0.5 m². A long dry pass over white leaves bands, and black shows them more than a pale colour would. Do not water the paint to make it flow. Wait 4 hours and touch up from the same tin, or lay another coat if the first was starved.
Will a matt feature wall mark behind the sofa?
It can. Reviews on this Dulux tin include chips where furniture rubs, and a matt that marked enough for someone to overcoat it with silk. The sample is only 59 ratings, so this is a pattern to take seriously, not a measured scrub class.
Is 16 m² per tin the same as 10 m² per litre?
No. Sixteen square metres is what the amazon listing prints for this 1.25 L tin, about 12.8 m² per litre if you divide it. Ten square metres per litre is the maker page, which is 12.5 m² from the same tin. Use 10 m² per litre when you are deciding whether a second wall fits. Use the 0.5 m² load rule when you are painting.
Can I use the £16.99 matt instead?
Yes, if you will lay two coats and you accept touch marks. Johnstone's matt is 2.5 L at £16.99, about £6.80 a litre, against about £18.80 a litre for the Dulux tin. A 7.2 m² wall needs about 1.2 L for two coats at 12 m² per litre, so the larger tin is mostly spare paint. It is not a one-coat product.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Shelf prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures read on 19 October 2026. The Dulux tin was checked again on 20 October 2026. Last checked 20 October 2026.
- SI 2012/1715 Schedule 2, VOC caps and labelling (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BS EN 13300:2022 preview, wet-scrub classification (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BS 6150:2019, painting of buildings code of practice (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- HSE: lead in paint, wet key, no dry sanding or burning (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Dulux Simply Refresh feature wall, one coat and roller load (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Johnstone's matt wall and ceiling paint, coverage and two coats (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Sandtex 10 Year exterior multi-surface satin (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- amazon.co.uk listings for the six ASINs (retrieved 19 October 2026)