Wallpaper Calculator: How Many Rolls You Need

How to work it out

Add up the width of every wall you are papering. A 12 by 10 ft room has 44 ft of wall.
Leave out wide openings such as patio doors. Small windows are usually papered around, so leave them in.
Enter the roll width, roll length and pattern repeat from the label.
Keep a spare roll from the same batch for repairs. The calculator adds one.

Common roll sizes

Roll	Size
US double roll	About 20.5 in by 33 ft
European roll	About 53 cm by 10.05 m (21 in by 33 ft)

These are common starting points. Your site, climate and supplier may call for something different.

How the count works

Each strip runs from ceiling to floor, plus the pattern repeat so the pattern lines up. The calculator works out how many whole strips fit in one roll, because a leftover piece shorter than the wall is waste, then divides the strips you need by that number.

Buy from one batch

Rolls printed at different times can differ slightly in colour. Buy all your rolls with the same batch or lot number, and check it on the label.

Common questions

How many rolls of wallpaper do I need for a 12 by 12 room?

With 8 ft walls and 20.5 in by 33 ft rolls, the 48 ft of wall needs 29 strips, and each roll gives 4 strips, so 8 rolls, or 9 with a spare.

What is a pattern repeat?

The distance before the pattern starts again down the roll. Each strip needs extra length to line the pattern up with the next one, so a large repeat means fewer strips per roll.

Should I subtract doors and windows?

Leave out wide openings such as patio doors. Standard doors and windows are often left in, because the paper around them is cut from full strips anyway.

What about a ceiling or a feature wall?

For one wall, enter just its width. For a ceiling, enter the length of the room as the width and the room's width as the height.

Doing this job for a customer? Turn your numbers into a free written estimate on QuoteToPaid.

Wallpaper calculator