Solve backwards
How big a room will my rolls of wallpaper paper?
- 8 double rollsThe example worked below
- Wallpaper CalculatorEvery figure is its own
You have
How much wallpaper?
Worked by the Wallpaper Calculator at the settings below.
The settings it uses
- Wall Height
- 8 ft
- Roll, and How It Is Counted
- US double roll, counted by wall area at 56 sq ft (5.2 m²) a roll
- Pattern Match
- Small repeat (15% waste)
What it will do
390 sq ft of papered wall
36.2 m²
One room. Enough for the walls of a room 12.9 × 11.4 ft with 8 ft walls.
Or several. Less than one room of the size the Wallpaper Calculator opens on (the walls of a room 13 × 11.5 ft with 8 ft walls).
Check it forwards
- Room Length
- 12.9 ft
- Room Width
- 11.4 ft
- It asks for
- 8 double rolls
- You have
- 8 double rolls
The Wallpaper Calculator asks for 8 double rolls at that size, and 9 double rolls one step larger.
If you had more, or less
Around your amount
Each worked by the Wallpaper Calculator at the same settings.
Half
4 double rolls
195 sq ft
the walls of a room 6.5 × 5.7 ft with 8 ft walls
Yours
8 double rolls
390 sq ft
the walls of a room 12.9 × 11.4 ft with 8 ft walls
Half as much again
12 double rolls
584 sq ft
the walls of a room 19.4 × 17.1 ft with 8 ft walls
Double
16 double rolls
779 sq ft
the walls of a room 25.8 × 22.9 ft with 8 ft walls
Common amounts
What each amount of wallpaper covers
The sizes it is usually sold in, each worked by the Wallpaper Calculator at the settings above.
| You have | It covers | As one room | Average rooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 double rolls | 292 sq ft(27.1 m²) | the walls of a room 9.7 × 8.6 ft with 8 ft walls | under 1 |
| 8 double rolls | 390 sq ft(36.2 m²) | the walls of a room 12.9 × 11.4 ft with 8 ft walls | under 1 |
| 10 double rolls | 487 sq ft(45.2 m²) | the walls of a room 16.1 × 14.3 ft with 8 ft walls | 1 |
| 12 double rolls | 584 sq ft(54.3 m²) | the walls of a room 19.4 × 17.1 ft with 8 ft walls | 1 |
| 16 double rolls | 779 sq ft(72.4 m²) | the walls of a room 25.8 × 22.9 ft with 8 ft walls | 1 |
Fifty-six square feet a double roll
A US double roll covers about 56 square feet (5.2 m²): York lists its 20.5 by 33 foot (0.52 by 10.06 m) roll at about 56.4 square feet (5.24 m²), the paper on the roll before any trimming, and the calculator divides by 56. At a small repeat's fifteen per cent, one double roll papers about 48.7 square feet (4.5 m²) of wall; eight paper about 390 square feet (36.2 m²), the walls of a room about 13 by 11.4 feet (4 by 3.5 m) at 8 feet (2.4 m) high. Paper sold in another size is counted by the calculator's drops count, from the length and width on its label.
The repeat sets the waste
Larger repeats waste more matching strips together: random or no-match paper carries ten per cent, a small repeat fifteen, and a repeat over about 18 inches (46 cm) twenty-five. The same double roll papers about 50.9, 48.7 or 44.8 square feet (4.7, 4.5 or 4.2 m²). The tail of a roll too short for one more floor-to-ceiling drop is dead stock, and the taller the wall, the more of it every roll leaves.
Four walls and nothing else
The wall area is the perimeter times the height in one rectangle, with nothing taken off for doors or windows, so chimney breasts, alcoves, bay returns and sloped walls have to be measured wall by wall. The ceiling, a border and any lining paper hung underneath are separate orders — and a room that is lined and then papered is hung twice, so it takes paste twice as well.
How the answer is worked
Nothing here is a second formula. The Wallpaper Calculator runs forwards — a size in, a quantity out — and this page grows its own starting room in proportion until the quantity it asks for is what you have. Where it rounds up to whole containers, the answer is the largest size before the next one would be needed.
Where the calculator adds an allowance for cuts or breakage when you order, the same allowance comes off here, because it is the same calculator: a stack you already own finishes less than its face value. Where it adds none, neither does this page — the settings beside the answer say which.
Wallpaper Calculator
runs it forwardsRolls of wallpaper for a room: US double rolls by wall area, or any roll counted in drops from its length and width, the wall height and pattern repeat.
Work out what to buy insteadSolve backwards
Other things you might already have
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How big a garden bed will my landscape fabric cover?
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How much floor will my rolls of underlayment cover?
Floor underlayment, worked by the Laminate/Vinyl Plank Floor Underlayment Roll Calculator.
How much eave will my rolls of ice and water shield cover?
Ice and water shield, worked by the Ice & Water Shield Calculator.
Solve backwards
Start from what is already in the yard
Paint, sheets, rolls, bags and pieces, each read the other way by the calculator that orders it.
The calculator's own figures
Nothing is estimated twice: the page runs the same calculator you would order with.
The largest size that fits
Where a calculator rounds up to whole containers, the answer stops before the next one.
Both unit systems
Gallons and litres, square feet and square metres, side by side.
Frequently asked questions
- How much papered wall does 8 double rolls of wallpaper cover?
- At the Wallpaper Calculator's own settings, 390 sq ft (36.2 m²) — the walls of a room 12.9 × 11.4 ft with 8 ft walls. Every figure follows the settings, which you can change in the calculator.
- How many square feet does a double roll of wallpaper cover?
- About 56 square feet (5.2 m²), the calculator's figure: York lists its 20.5 by 33 foot (0.52 by 10.06 m) double roll at about 56.4 square feet (5.24 m²), the paper on the roll before trimming; a single roll is half of that. After the pattern-matching waste — ten, fifteen or twenty-five per cent — a double roll papers roughly 45 to 51 square feet (4.2 to 4.7 m²) of wall.
- How many rolls of wallpaper for a 12 by 12 room?
- At 8 foot (2.4 m) walls the room has 384 square feet (35.7 m²) of wall; with fifteen per cent for a small repeat that is about 442 square feet (41.1 m²), or 8 double rolls (7.9 rounded up). Doors and windows are not deducted, which leaves a little in hand for a large repeat.
- How big is a roll of European wallpaper?
- A standard European roll is commonly 0.53 m (20.9 in) wide and 10.05 m (33 ft) long, about 5.3 m² (57 square feet), close to a US double roll's 56 square feet (5.2 m²) but a different product. The calculator's drops count takes a European roll's own length and width; this page reads its double-roll count.