How Much Wallpaper Do I Need? - ROMAN Products

You might be asking yourself: How much wallpaper do I need? That’s a fair question because your budget will depend on it. Once you’ve determined how much wallpaper you need, you can purchase the right amount of wallpaper primer, vinyl wallpaper glue, and other necessary supplies.

In today’s video tutorial, we’ll get you started on one of the basics for hanging wallpaper, which is determining how much wallpaper you’ll need for your project.

You can also find our guide on how to measure for wallpaper on our website - https://romandecoratingproducts.com/howto/how-to-measure-for-wallpaper/
Contents:
0:00​ - Intro
1:25 - Pattern Repeat Intro
1:48​ - Random - No Repeat
2:17 - Small Repeat
2:54 - Large Repeat
3:46 - Determine Pattern Repeat
5:17 - Calculate Wallpaper Needed

HOW TO MEASURE FOR WALLPAPER

You’ve selected the ideal wallcovering for your room, and now it’s time to measure that space to figure out exactly how much wallpaper the project will take. To not worry too much about making a mistake, it’s a good rule of thumb to always have a little extra. To measure for wallpaper, you will need to determine the total square footage of the wall surface..

Supplies you may need include:
- Pen
- Paper
- Measuring tape
- Calculator

For projects where you will be installing wallpaper on more than one wall, it may be helpful to draw a general picture of what the room looks like from an aerial view. In most cases, this is a simple box or rectangle. Then, use the measuring tape to measure how wide each wall is. For example, say a rectangular room has two walls 11 feet wide and two walls 13 feet wide. Then, add these numbers up like so:

11+13+11+13 = 48
This means that your room is 48 linear feet.
Next, measure the maximum ceiling height of the room. For this example, we will say the ceilings are 8 feet tall. To calculate the total square feet of the room, multiply the room’s linear feet by the ceiling height. For example:
48 x 8 = 384 square feet

Therefore, you will need to make sure you have at least 384 square feet of wallcovering. To ensure you have enough wallcovering for the project, you don’t want to subtract any square footage for things like windows and doors. However, unless you choose a solid or random pattern wallcovering, then you will need to take a few extra steps with your measurements to account for the pattern repeat.

MEASURING & FIGURING FOR PATTERN REPEATS
When you hang your first wallpaper strip and try to hang the second, you’ll notice you may need to match up the pattern elements. Those elements are known as pattern repeats, and they’ll help you determine the amount of wallpaper you’ll need.

You can have three different types of pattern repeats:
- Small Pattern Repeat: Uses tighter, smaller pattern repeats.
- Large Pattern Repeat: Uses looser, less frequent repeats.
Random Pattern Repeat: Also known as no repeat or no match, there’s no pattern to match up along the seam.

To determine which type of pattern repeat your wallpaper has, sometimes you only need to check the back of the wallpaper. You may also find this information on the manufacturer label of the wallpaper roll.

Depending on the pattern repeat you choose, you’ll need to do a bit more math to get the right amount of wallpaper for your room.

If you’re using a no repeat wallcovering, then divide the total square footage of the room by 25. Then, round up the number you get to determine how many rolls of wallpaper you will need. For example:
384 ÷ 25 = 15.36
Therefore, you will need 16 rolls or 8 double rolls of wallpaper.

However, if you do have a pattern repeat to consider, then divide the total square footage of the room by that number. For example, the manufacturer label may say the pattern repeat is 20 inches. Therefore, continuing with our example:
384 ÷ 20 = 19.2

So, you will need 20 rolls or 10 double rolls of wallcovering. If your wallcovering manufacturer doesn’t note the repeat, then you can estimate whether it uses a small repeat or a large repeat.

If you have a small repeat, divide the square footage by 22 and larger divide by 18. Continuing with our example, you can find the number of rolls you will need:
Small repeat:
384 ÷ 22 = 17.45

Therefore, with a small repeat, you will need 18 rolls of wallpaper or 9 double rolls.
Large repeat:
384 ÷ 18 = 21.33

Therefore, you will need 22 rolls or 11 double rolls of wallcovering for a large repeat.
To help you with this process, we’ve created a wallpaper calculator. You just need to enter the information you already have, like pattern repeat and square footage - https://romandecoratingproducts.com/wallpaper-calculator/

Now that you have figured out exactly how many wallcovering rolls your project entails, you’ll need to select the right wallpaper paste. ROMAN Products offers high-quality, innovative formulations for all your wallcovering installation needs. Discover the best wallcovering adhesive available - https://romandecoratingproducts.com/wallcovering-adhesives/