Wallpaper roll calculator: how much do I need?
Calculating the right quantity of wallpaper for a room is an essential step in making your interior decorating project a success. Wallpaper can completely transform the look of a room, but you need to make sure you have enough to cover the entire surface without buying too much. Here is a guide to help you calculate the right amount of wallpaper for your room:
Are you planning to hang wallpaper on a wall? If so, the answer to the question "How much wallpaper do I need?" is essential. Before you even start preparing your wall for wallpapering, you need to order your chosen wallpaper — and that means knowing how much wallpaper you need per square metre, or better still, per wall section. In this article, we explain how you can work this out and find the answer to that question.
4 factors that determine how much wallpaper you need:
The width of your wall
The height of your wall
The length of your wallpaper roll
The width of your wallpaper roll
The formulas you can use to calculate the amount of wallpaper you need:
Wallpaper roll length / wall height = number of drops you will get from one roll of wallpaper.
Wall width / number of whole drops = number of wallpaper rolls required.
How much wallpaper do you need: measure to find out
To determine how much wallpaper you need, you must first measure the total surface area to be covered. It is important to do this carefully and at several different points. Here are some tips to help you.
Measure the width of the wall in two places. First, unroll your tape measure along the top of the wall, from left to right, then do the same along the bottom. Why? Because, even though builders and plasterers do their best, a wall is not always perfectly straight. This way, you will be able to properly account for any differences when ordering your wallpaper.
Also measure the height of the wall in two or three places. This depends on the total width of the wall. Measure carefully from top to bottom and keep the largest measurement. Here too, there may be a difference of 1 to 2 centimetres depending on where the measurements are taken.
The height multiplied by the width gives you the surface area of the wall you are going to wallpaper.
Comparing the surface area to be wallpapered with the dimensions of a wallpaper roll
You now need to compare the surface area of the wall with the dimensions of a wallpaper roll. A standard wallpaper roll is generally 54 centimetres wide and 10 metres long. Is your wall 2.5 metres high? In that case, you can calculate that you will get 4 drops from one roll. To be safe, allow a 5-centimetre margin at the top and bottom. That gives you 2.60 metres of wallpaper per drop. 10 metres (length of the wallpaper roll) divided by 2.60 metres (wall height) gives 3.85 drops of wallpaper.
But you are not quite done with the calculation yet, as you naturally want to know how many drops you need to cover the full width of your wall. For example, if your wall is 5 metres wide, you will need 9.259 drops of wallpaper: 500 centimetres (wall width) divided by 54 centimetres (wallpaper width). Since you always get 3 drops from a 10-metre wallpaper roll, this means you will need 3 rolls of wallpaper to wallpaper your wall in its entirety.
How many wallpaper rolls do you need? Our calculator does the maths for you!
When placing your order in our online shop, a calculator is available and automatically works out the number of wallpaper rolls you need. (Please note that this remains an indication only, and you must make sure of your own measurements.)
