How much wallpaper do you need?

I’ve had a couple of people ask me how to calculate how much wallpaper you need. There are a lot of online ‘calculators’ but they all vary.

I’ve simplified the calculation below, but bare in mind this is only a guide.

Essentially, you need to ignore windows and doors (unless they take up the whole height of the room) and you calculate like so:

  1. Calculate general measurements:

  • Work out the Wall Size: This is Wall Width x Wall Height.

    For e.g: I’m calculating one feature wall that is 8m wide x 2.4m high = 19.2m squared.

  • Work out Roll Size: Roll Width x length of paper roll.

    For e.g: 0.52m x 10 = 5.2 (this is for our Woodland Floor paper)

  • Work out the Pattern Repeat: For a Half Drop this is the height of the repeat divided by 2.

    For e.g: 0.60m / 2 = 0.30m

2. Determine how many drops are needed to cover your wall (from ceiling to floor):

  • Divide the wall width by the width of your wallpaper and round up.

    For e.g: Wall Width: 8 / 0.52 = 15.38 Rounded Up: 16

    3. Determine your finished height (the length you need to determine a pattern match on the wall):

    1. Divide the wall height by the vertical pattern repeat, round up by 1.

      For e.g: 2.40m / 0.30m = 8 Rounded Up: 9

    4. Determine how many drops you can get out of each roll of wallpaper:

    1. Divide the roll length by the finished height and round down.

      For e.g: 10 /2.4 = 4.16 Rounded Down: 4

    5. Finally, now we can figure out how many rolls you need:

    1. Divide your total drops needed (from step 2) by the drops per roll (from step 4), then round up.

      For e.g: 16 / 4 = 4 Rolls

A sketch showing how a half drop repeat works.

Stephanie Le Cocq
British Print Designer and Illustrator
www.stephanielecocq.com
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