Please be aware that the answer MAY differ depending on whether the house was used as a rental.
If this was your personal residence, painting would be considered maintenance and not added to the basis.
Since the cost was not essential to selling (you were not REQUIRED to paint the home, which is different than being REQUIRED to pay selling commission) it is not added to the basis nor added to selling costs.
The only exception is if painting was part of an improvement, in which case the painting portion of the improvement needn't be separated. For example, if the kitchen was remodeled, you add the entire cost of that improvement to the basis. You do not need to separate the cost of cabinets, appliances, from the painting labor.
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