MovePik

Wallpaper calculator for whole rooms

Measure the walls once and get the drops per wall, the drops each roll gives and the rolls to buy.

Project name, saving and backup ↓

Measure each room once. Every material on this page is planned from these measurements.

Units

Changing a unit only changes how values are shown. Your measurements stay exactly as entered.

Feet and inches: type 12' 6", 12 6 (= 12 ft 6 in) or 12.5 (decimal feet). Inches alone: 30".

Rooms

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What this planner works out

The planner counts wallpaper the way it is hung: in drops, the vertical strips you cut from the roll. For every wall it works out how many drops cover its width and how long each drop must be. From the roll length it then works out how many whole drops one roll gives, and from that the number of rolls to buy. You can plan several rooms in one project, and the same rooms can also get paint or flooring.

The result is a shopping quantity based on your own measurements and the numbers on the roll label. It is not advice on the wall surface, lining paper, paste or how to hang a particular paper.

What to measure

  • Each wall’s width, wall by wall, at its widest point. For a rectangle or an L-shaped room the planner works out the walls from the floor shape. For anything else, enter the walls one by one.
  • Wall height from the floor to the ceiling (or to the highest point the paper reaches). The room has one height, shared with the paint calculator, as in how to measure a room.
  • From the label: roll width, roll length, the match type and, for a straight or half-drop match, the pattern repeat.
  • Trim: the extra length you cut on every drop, top and bottom together, so you can line up the pattern and trim neatly. Use the figure from the hanging instructions of your paper; the planner has no fixed value.

The method

  1. Drops per wall = wall width ÷ roll width, rounded up. A part strip still needs a full drop.
  2. Drop length = wall height + trim. With a straight match the drop is rounded up to a whole number of repeats, so every strip starts at the same point of the pattern. With a half-drop match every drop gets half a repeat more on top, because alternating drops start half a repeat lower (a conservative estimate). A free match has no repeat to follow.
  3. Drops per roll = roll length ÷ drop length, rounded down. The rest of the roll is an offcut.
  4. Rolls = all drops of the same length ÷ drops per roll, rounded up. Spare rolls come on top.

Worked example: one wall

A wall 4 m wide and 2.4 m high, a roll 0.5 m wide and 10 m long, 0.2 m trim, straight match with a 0.5 m repeat:

  • Drops: 4 ÷ 0.5 = 8 drops
  • Drop length: 2.4 + 0.2 = 2.6 m, which is 5.2 repeats, rounded up to 6 repeats = 3.0 m
  • Drops per roll: 10 ÷ 3.0 = 3.33, so 3 drops (1.0 m offcut on every roll)
  • Rolls: 8 ÷ 3 = 2.67, so 3 rolls

With a free match the drop would stay at 2.6 m. A roll still gives only 3 drops (10 ÷ 2.6 = 3.85), so the answer is also 3 rolls, but the offcut grows to 2.2 m per roll.

Worked example: a whole room

A room 4 × 3 m with walls 2.5 m high. The roll is 0.53 m wide and 10.05 m long, free match, 0.1 m trim:

  • Walls: 4, 3, 4 and 3 m. Drops: 4 ÷ 0.53 = 7.55, so 8 on each long wall, and 3 ÷ 0.53 = 5.66, so 6 on each short wall: 8 + 6 + 8 + 6 = 28 drops
  • Drop length: 2.5 + 0.1 = 2.6 m
  • Drops per roll: 10.05 ÷ 2.6 = 3.87, so 3 drops, with a 2.25 m offcut
  • Rolls: 28 ÷ 3 = 9.33, so 10 rolls

The example the planner opens with uses feet and inches: a 12 × 10 ft room with 8 ft walls and a 20.5 in × 33 ft roll with a 21 in straight repeat and 4 in trim. That gives 28 drops of 105 in, 3 drops per roll and also 10 rolls. All of these are example values; replace them with your own room and your own label.

Why doors and windows are not deducted

Drops are cut whole and then trimmed around a door or window frame. Whether the short pieces above a door or below a window can come from offcuts depends on the pattern, the order you hang in and how much waste each cut leaves. There is no single rule for this, so the planner does not guess. If a wall is mostly window or door, you can enter the wall pieces either side of it as separate walls, or keep the full count and treat the saving as your spare.

Limits

  • Half-drop (offset) patterns are counted conservatively: every drop is the straight-match drop plus half a repeat, because alternating drops start half a repeat lower. Some makers’ charts allow less; check yours if the count looks high.
  • No cut planning. Offcuts are never counted as usable drops, and walls with different drop lengths do not share their offcuts.
  • Ceilings, sloped walls, stairwells and borders are not part of the calculation.
  • Batch numbers. Rolls from different production batches can differ slightly in color. Check the batch or lot number printed on each roll before you start, and keep the label in case you need to buy more.

Stripping old wallpaper in an older home can disturb paint layers underneath. In the United States, see the EPA’s lead-safe renovation guidance for do-it-yourselfers before you scrape or sand. If you are painting other walls of the same rooms, the paint calculator and the room refresh planner use the same measurements.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the planner not divide the wall area by the roll area?

Because you cannot hang wallpaper by area. Every strip is cut from the roll at full wall height, plus trim, and with a pattern it has to start at the same point of the design. What is left at the end of the roll is often too short for another full drop. Two rooms with the same wall area can therefore need a different number of rolls, depending on their height and the repeat.

My walls have different heights. Can one wallpaper cover them all?

Yes. Walls with the same drop length share their rolls. Walls with a different drop length are counted in their own group, with their own drops per roll, and the rolls of the groups are added up. The planner does not plan how a long offcut from a tall wall could be used on a lower one, so with mixed heights the result is on the safe side.

How do I enter a room that is not a rectangle?

An L-shaped room gives its six walls from the overall length and width and the cut-out corner. For any other shape, or to leave out a wall you will not paper, tick Enter walls one by one in step 1 and type each wall width. The list is used for wallpaper only; paint in the same project still uses the room perimeter.

Should I add a spare roll?

The planner never adds one. If you want a spare for mistakes or repairs, enter it as a spare roll, so the shopping list and the printed plan show it separately from the rolls the drops need.

Single roll, double roll or bolt: which length do I enter?

The length of the roll you will actually receive, from its label. In the US, wallpaper is often priced per single roll but sold in double rolls (sometimes called a bolt), and a double roll is one continuous roll, so it can give more drops than two separate rolls. Enter that length and the price of one roll as you buy it.

How many rolls do I need for one feature wall?

Tick Enter walls one by one in step 1 and type only the wall you will paper. The planner then counts the drops of that wall alone, as in the one-wall example above: 8 drops, 3 per roll, 3 rolls.

My paper has a half-drop match. How is it counted?

Choose Half-drop match and enter the repeat from the label. Each drop is the wall height plus trim, rounded up to whole repeats, plus half a repeat: with a 0.5 m repeat on 2.0 m walls and 0.1 m trim that is 2.75 m instead of 2.5 m, so a 10 m roll gives 3 drops instead of 4. The planner gives every drop the extra half repeat, so the result is a conservative estimate; some makers’ charts allow less.

Do I plan lining paper the same way?

If you hang it vertically, yes: it is counted in drops like a plain paper with a free match, from its own roll size and trim. The walls of a room take one wallpaper at a time, so use Duplicate project (under Project name, saving and backup) and choose the lining paper for the walls in the copy. Cross-lining (hung horizontally) is not counted.

How much paste do I need?

The planner does not calculate paste. The paste packet says how many rolls, or which area, one packet covers for a given type of paper; divide your rolls by that figure and round up. Some papers are pre-pasted or are pasted on the wall instead, so follow the instructions for your paper.

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