Remember the more you paint, the less the texture on the walls is noticeable and the flatter they get.

Several layers of paint and orange peel or knockdown is almost invisible.

It's easier to repaint more frequently (5-7 years) than less frequently. When we've left rooms for 12-15 years, it takes a lot more prep and work to bring it back to looking fresh. The walls get dried out (so they take extra coats because they drink the paint) or need a lot of cleaning if left too long.

I mostly paint my own house now because it's very difficult to find painters who don't take shortcuts or take many, many weeks to complete a job. And painting is disruptive, so it's annoying to try to do it all at once unless you're moving in or out. I try to do one room or odd space per year, and that seems to work out to everything being updated on a decent schedule.

When I repaint, I put a small amount of each type of paint in an empty jam jar or even baby food jars. That makes touch ups so much easier- just shake the jar to mix and you can go in with an artists' paintbrush to do little touchups. It's easier than hauling the entire paint can out, finding paint stirrers, mixing the paint, and trying to keep everything tidy.

We repaint every few years to keep up with the “in” colors.

We painted ours after about 12 years. But I dont think my parents have ever repainted theirs.

It just depends, as PP pointed out. We just moved into a new house and had it painted; we were told it was last painted 16 years ago. It really, really needed it.

If you have to you have to. How clean you keep it depends.

We have now lived in our house for 13 years- with multiple pets and dogs, the inside is looking dingy..do most home owners have to repaint after they've lived in their house long term?