Roll Calculations
Wallpaper is a fantastic product to transform any space in your home quickly and cost-effectively.
If you’ve already found the perfect pattern, plain or textured wallpaper design then you’ll probably need to know how many rolls you would need to complete your interior transformation!
We are always happy to help you calculate how many rolls you may need but we do need accurate measurements to provide the most accurate response.
What you'll need...
So get your tape measure at the ready, grab a pencil & some blank paper to make your notes on.
If you need a hand, make sure you ask someone at home.
Take care on any ladders or steps you may be using.
What Area To measure?
A Feature Wall?
- We need the full width of the wall you want to decorate, if this includes a chimney breast or alcoves, you must include the returns/recess depth within this measurement.
- We also need the full height of the wall, measure from the skirting boards to the ceiling/coving or picture rail you are decorating up to.
- A small saving may be achieved by deducting the surface area of any fireplace/surround, this will be nominal
Write down these measurements as:
Wall Width = / Wall Height =
A Full Room?
- Measure the width and height of each wall within your room that you want to decorate, include your doors and windows within these measurements as if they were not there.
- If you have patio doors / bi-fold doors etc, do not include these within your measurements. Just note if they have any wall space above or any recess surrounding them that you may want to apply wallpaper to.
Write down these measurements as:
Wall 1: Width = Height =
Wall 2: Width = Height =
Wall 3: Width = Height =
Wall 4: Width = Height =
Hallways, Stairways & Landings?
- With the housing stock across the country varying in shape, size and layout this can often be a difficult space to calculate wallpaper for. You may have double story height walls, bulkheads and of course the angles to work with created by the staircase.
- We have a little layout that may help you know where and what to measure. This information will help greatly and it’s not something any website calculator could work out for you, click here to download.
We can say the following applies for an average interior wall height of 2.30m - 2.45m (7’6”- 8”)
Plain Wallpapers
A wallpaper that is labelled with no pattern repeat or a free match, you should expect to achieve 4 full lengths of decorating from a complete wallpaper roll.
Think of this as a coverage per roll of around 2.00m of wall width (6 feet, 6 inches approx).
Patterned Wallpapers
A wallpaper that is labelled advising a pattern repeat or a match is required to obtain continuity of design, you should expect to achieve 3 full lengths of decorating from a complete wallpaper roll.
Think of this as a coverage per roll of around 1.50m of wall width (5 feet approx).
You will likely also have a long length left over (not quite a full wall height length) that may be useful in other areas of a room such as above or below windows and doors.
A Little Advice
If the space you wish to decorate has already been decorated and you are able to count the number of lengths that are in place (or have been), this will allow you to make a quick calculation using the guidance above.
Any other floor-to-ceiling height than the range specified above will require more thought and therefore further calculation.
Calculations by the Square Metre / Square Foot…
Wallpaper rolls will state the specifications (length and width) on the roll label and often square meterage/footage that a roll could cover.
This squared calculation is accurate to the surface area of the roll when unravelled or hung as a continuous length, not the coverage when hung in shorter lengths when decorating walls at home.
Various factors such as repeating pattern matches, trimming wastage and angles of ceilings/stairs and other factors mean that on average, you will not achieve the surface area quoted as hung coverage.
Our industry standard chart
So you’ve picked your perfect wallpaper from our range of top-branded value and designer wallpapers and now you’re ready to buy. But how many rolls of wallpaper do you need? Use Home Flair’s Wallpaper Roll Calculator Chart to find out the quantity you should add to your basket.