Estimating Wallpaper Quantities

We are often asked how many rolls of wallpaper do I need to paper this room, or how much wallpaper is required to cover a particular sized wall, all be it for a feature wall or statement wallcovering.

This page should give you some guidance on how to measure for wallpaper, calculating how much wallpaper you need, however we would always recommend you seek the advice of a professional decorator or the person hanging your wallpaper as we cannot be held responsible for any errors in miscalculation or quantities based on the advice given in this page.

Calculating the number of rolls of wallcovering you need will depend mainly on the size of the roll, both the length and width.

However, you also need to take into consideration the pattern repeat, mainly the vertical pattern repeat, and also make allowances for cutting around obstacles such as windows and doors.

Today with some much variety of wallcoverings estimating has become harder because once upon a time where there use to be just the standard UK roll size generally of 10.05m in length by 52cms wide, these days wide-width wallpapers are now available which can be anything from 62cms wide up to a 1 meter, and the pattern repeats have become bigger. Wallpaper is also being sold in panels aswell which is generally the size of the repeat.

Always check the product details as the width and length can vary, plus with some of the more expensive luxury wallpapers you can buy the wallpaper by the meter, rather than as a roll therefore saving on waste age and therefore cost.

The width of a standard roll of wallcovering is 520mm (1ft gin), the length 10.05 metres (33ft).

Use these two basic charts on this page to estimate how many rolls you are likely to need for walls and ceilings.

Again please note this is just a guide and always consult with a professional decorator as each decorator has a way of working.

Measuring walls for standard rolls: 

A standard roll of wallcovering is 520mm (ift gin) wide and 10.05 metres (33ft) long. To be on the safe side, you may want to include windows and doors in your estimate.

 

Measuring walls for non-standard rolls:

Do not include doors and windows when estimating for expensive wallcoverings. Allow for short lengths after making your main calculation.

 

Walls:

Standard rolls Measure your room and look down the height column and across the wall column to estimate the number of standard rolls required, but again please only use this as a guide.

Non Standard Roll Sizes:

If the wallcovering you prefer is not cut to a standard size, calculate the amount you need the following way:

Measuring the walls:

Measure the height of the walls from skirting to ceiling. Divide the length of the roll by this figure to find the number of wall lengths you can cut from a roll.

Measure around the room, leaving out windows and doors, to determine how many widths fit into the total length of the walls.

To estimate how many rolls you will need, divide this number by the number of wall lengths you can get from one roll. Make an allowance for short lengths above doors and under windows.

Measuring ceilings:

Measure the length of the room to determine the length of a single strip of paper. Work out how many roll-widths fit across the room.

To estimate how many rolls you need, multiply the two figures and divide the answer by the length of a roll. Check for waste and allow for it.

 

Ensure No Shade Variation: 

If rolls of wallcovering are printed in one batch, there should be no problem with colour-matching one roll with another. When you buy, look for the batch number printed on the wrapping. Make a visual check before hanging the covering, especially when using hand-printed papers or fabrics. Unroll a short length of each roll and lay the rolls side by side. You may be able to obtain a better colour match by changing the rolls round. If the colour difference to too great and obvious then ask for replacement rolls.

 

Ceilings:

Standard rolls Measure the perimeter of the ceiling. The number of standard rolls required is shown next to the overall dimensions.

Dimensions
All dimensions are shown in meters (1m=39")

 

Wallcoverings Sold By The Meter:

Estimating how much wallpaper is required when the wallpaper is sold by the meter can be difficult to advise on as every decorator has his/her own way of working. Expensive luxury brands such as Elitis wallcoverings and Art International sell many of their expensive walloverings by the meter.

However, take a note of the width of the wallpaper or wallcovering which is normally 90cm or 1 meter wide if classed as a wide width-wallpaper.

Measure around the room or width of the wall you wish to hang the wallpaper on.

Divide the width of the wall by the width of the wallpaper, and round up, to work out how many widths or drops you need for example:

If your wall measures 4.2 meters long and the width of the wallpaper is 90cms you would divide 4.2 meters by 90cms which would give you an answer of 4.66. You would then round this up to a total of 5 widths or drops required.

Then measure the height of your walls from skirting to ceiling.

Let us say in this example it is 2.3m in height, you may or may not want to add 10cms on for any discrepancies in height across the width of the room, in this example we will do so.

So we now have a room height measurement of 2.4m.

So we know we need 5 widths or drops of the wallcovering sold by the meter, so we multiply the number of widths by the height (otherwise known) as the drop of the wall 2.4m and the answer we get is 12 meters total.

You would therefore need to order 12 meters in total to cover the wall in this example, however this does not allow for any anomalies or errors while the decorator is hanging the wallpaper so in some instances you may wish to order another drop of 2.4m to allow the decorator some room for manoeuvre, however that decision is yours to make.

Again we cannot stress this enough that if the wallpaper sold by the meter, and is expensive then you should always consult with your professional decorator.

We would also like to add the above example does not take into account if the wallcovering or wallpaper has any pattern repeats to consider. If so then the calculation is different.

Should you need any advise or assistance on working out how much wallpaper you need please do not hesitate to contact us and we will do our best to assist you.

Please read our guide on choosing wallpaper paste, or explore our wallpaper guides more for topics such as, how to hang lining paper and how to hang wallpaper.