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How many rolls of wallpaper do I need?

Get a roll count that accounts for pattern repeat, not just raw area.

Wallpaper drops on all four walls (14.6 m of wall run) of a 4.2 m by 3.1 m room, at 0.5 m roll widthAll drops, laid flat (28 drops)14.6 m of wall · 2.4 m high

Your room

m
m
m
Doors
1
Windows
1
Walls

Tap a wall to include or leave it out.

Your product10.05m × 0.53m rolls · no pattern repeatChange
m
m
cm

Use 0 for a plain or free-match paper - check the roll label for a patterned one.

7 rolls

Wall perimeter
14.6 m
Drop height (ceiling + 10 cm trim)
2.5 m
10.05 m roll ÷ 2.5 m drop
4 drops per roll
Perimeter ÷ 0.53 m roll width (openings not deducted - offcuts rarely reach a full drop)
28 drops

How we work it out

  • Wallpaper isn't bought by area - it's bought and hung in whole drops cut from a roll, so we work in drops rather than square metres.
  • Each drop includes a 10 cm trim allowance top and bottom for a clean cut at the ceiling and skirting.
  • If your paper has a pattern repeat, every drop is rounded up to a whole number of repeats so the pattern lines up cleanly on every length - this uses slightly more paper than the raw height alone.
  • We don't deduct for doors and windows - offcuts from a part-covered drop rarely add up to a spare drop elsewhere, so decorators estimate on the full wall perimeter.

Frequently asked questions

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

It depends on your ceiling height, roll size and pattern repeat, not just the room's area - a large pattern repeat can add a whole extra roll versus a plain paper in the same room. Enter your measurements above for an exact count.

Why does pattern repeat affect how much wallpaper I need?

Each drop has to be cut so the pattern lines up with the next one, which means rounding the cut length up to the next whole repeat. A large repeat (64 cm+) can waste a noticeable amount per drop, especially on a shorter wall.

Do I need to deduct doors and windows for wallpaper?

Most decorators don't - a part-height drop over a door still uses a full drop's length cut from the roll, and the offcut is rarely long enough to reuse elsewhere. We estimate on the full wall perimeter for this reason.

What's a standard UK wallpaper roll size?

10.05 m long by 53 cm wide is the standard UK roll size and what we default to - check your chosen paper's packaging, as some designer papers use different roll sizes.

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