We’re obsessed with helping you find the perfect wallpaper style, color, and materials for your needs. We’ll work with you on all the details of your wallpaper project, including helping you determine exactly how much product you need for a given room or wall upgrade.
Clients new to wallpaper often have many questions in this area – how much wallpaper do I need? How do I measure and calculate my needs? The process may seem difficult, but it’s actually relatively simple and easy. Here are the basic steps of measuring for the proper amounts of wallpaper.
Project Scale
For starters, you’ll want to take some very broad measurements that define the base scale of the project. Measure the height and width of each wall that’s set to be included, ensuring you subtract any doorway or window areas from the total.
From here, simply multiply the length and width of the walls to get the square foot area you need to be covered. Add up all wall areas here to define your total square footage needed. Finally, we usually recommend increasing your total area need by about 10 to 15 percent to leave yourself some wiggle room.
Straight Vs. Drop Pattern
Now, simply measuring the square footage is just the first part of this process. To get a more detailed idea of your needs, you have to determine whether you want a straight or a drop match pattern. Straight match patterns will all line up evenly at the same point on the ceiling. While drop match designs will line up in an every-other format that requires you to line up patterns both horizontally and vertically.
For those on a budget, the straight pattern is usually the way to go – it creates less waste in general. With drop patterns, you may have to do a bit more work shifting wallpaper lengths up and down. A few basics on drop pattern coverage amounts:
- 0-6 inches: 25 square feet of usable wallpaper
- 7-12 inches: 22 square feet
- 13-18 inches: 20 square feet
- 19-23 inches: Only half a roll of usable wallpaper
Dividing Into Single Rolls
Once you’ve defined the total square footage needed based on your pattern and the scale of the project, it’s time to do a little more basic math. Simply divide your total estimated square footage needed by the amount of usable wallpaper on a single roll, as defined in our previous section. This will tell you exactly how many rolls to buy.
Buying Time
And finally, it’s time to make your purchase. Check through our wide selection of wallpapers, which includes breakdowns by several important categories.
For more on how to properly measure for your next wallpapering project, or to learn about any of our discount wallpaper, speak to us.
