Wallpaper Calculator
Find how many rolls of wallpaper you need for one wall or a whole room, counting full-height strips with your wall height and pattern repeat.
Wallpaper goes up in floor-to-ceiling strips, and a roll only gives as many full-height strips as fit its length. So wall height and the pattern repeat decide how many rolls you need as much as the wall's width does.
What are you papering?
An accent wall, or every wall in the room.
Wall size
Your wallpaper
The roll size and pattern repeat are on the label.
Pattern repeat
On the label, in inches. Enter 0 for a paper with no pattern to match.
Rolls to buy
3 rolls
For a 12 × 8 ft wall
A roll here is one full roll as sold, often labeled a double roll. Includes extra for trimming and lining up the pattern. Doors and windows aren't subtracted. Buy every roll from the same lot so the color matches.
💡About this calculator▼
Wallpaper doesn't work like paint. It goes up in strips from ceiling to floor, and each roll gives only as many full-height strips as fit its length; the short piece left at the end rarely makes another strip. That's why a tall wall or a big pattern repeat can add a roll even when the square footage looks the same.
This counts it strip by strip. Choose one wall or a whole room, enter the wall's size or the room's size and ceiling height, pick the roll size, and enter the pattern repeat from the label. You get the number of rolls to buy.
Works for one accent wall or a whole room, with standard rolls or peel-and-stick.
Strips across the walls. Wallpaper rolls are 20.5 inches wide, so the number of strips is the width of the walls in inches divided by 20.5, rounded up. A 12-foot wall takes 8 strips.
How long each strip is. The wall height plus about 4 inches to trim, 2 at the ceiling and 2 at the baseboard, as a major wallpaper maker recommends, plus one pattern repeat, so each new strip can be shifted to line up with the last.
Strips from each roll. A standard roll is 33 feet (396 inches) long; a peel-and-stick roll is usually 18 feet. Divide the roll length by the strip length and round down, because a strip has to be full height.
Rolls. Strips needed divided by strips per roll, rounded up.
Worked example. One 12-foot wall, 8 feet high, standard rolls, a 21-inch repeat: 8 strips; each strip is 96 + 4 + 21 = 121 inches, so a 396-inch roll gives 3 strips; 8 ÷ 3 rounds up to 3 rolls. With peel-and-stick rolls, only one 121-inch strip fits in 216 inches, so the same wall takes 8 rolls.
📐How it's calculated▼
Strips = wall width (in) ÷ 20.5, rounded up.
Strip length = wall height (in) + 4 in trim + pattern repeat.
Strips per roll = roll length (in) ÷ strip length, rounded down (standard 396 in, peel-and-stick 216 in). Rolls = strips ÷ strips per roll, rounded up.
12 ft wall, 8 ft high, 21-in repeat, standard rolls: 8 strips, 121 in each, 3 per roll, 3 rolls. A 12 × 12 room (48 ft): 29 strips, 10 rolls. 9 ft walls, 25-in repeat: 137-in strips, 2 per roll.
🔍Finding your inputs▼
What are you papering: One wall for an accent wall, or a whole room for every wall.
Wall size, or room size: For one wall, how wide and how tall it is. For a whole room, its size the way you'd describe it (a 12 × 12 bedroom) and the ceiling height; the calculator adds up every wall. Don't subtract doors and windows.
Wall height: From the floor (or the top of the baseboard) to the ceiling, in feet.
Roll size: Standard rolls are 20.5 inches by 33 feet, the size most papers come in. Peel-and-stick rolls are usually 20.5 inches by 18 feet. Check your label.
Pattern repeat: The distance before the pattern repeats, in inches, printed on the label. Enter 0 for a plain or random-match paper with nothing to line up.
⚠️Special situations▼
I’m only doing an accent wall
Enter just that wall’s width. A 12-foot wall 8 feet high takes 3 standard rolls with a typical repeat. Short pieces left over can cover areas above doors and below windows elsewhere.
My ceilings are high
Taller walls mean longer strips and fewer per roll. A standard roll gives 3 strips on an 8-foot wall but only 2 on a 9-foot wall with a 25-inch repeat, so the roll count can jump with height even for the same width.
Why does peel-and-stick need so many more rolls?
Peel-and-stick rolls are usually 18 feet long instead of 33, so they give fewer full-height strips. With a big pattern repeat, an 18-foot roll may give only one strip on an 8-foot wall.
❓Common questions▼
How many rolls of wallpaper do I need for a 12x12 room?
A 12-by-12-foot room has 48 feet of wall. With 8-foot walls and standard 20.5-inch by 33-foot rolls, that is 29 strips at 3 strips a roll, so about 10 rolls. A few large windows can save a roll.
How many rolls of wallpaper do I need for one wall?
For a 12-foot wall 8 feet high, about 3 standard rolls: 8 strips, 3 strips from each roll. A narrower 8-foot wall takes 5 strips, so 2 rolls.
How does the pattern repeat change how much wallpaper I need?
Each strip has to be cut one repeat longer so the next strip can be shifted to match the pattern. On tall walls that extra length can drop a roll from 3 strips to 2, which adds rolls.
How long should I cut wallpaper strips?
The wall height plus about 4 inches, 2 at the ceiling and 2 at the floor for trimming, plus one pattern repeat so each strip can be shifted to match the last. On an 8-foot wall with a 21-inch repeat, cut each strip about 10 feet 1 inch long.
How big is a roll of wallpaper?
Most standard wallpaper comes in rolls 20.5 inches wide and 33 feet long, about 56 square feet, often sold as a double roll. Peel-and-stick rolls are usually 20.5 inches by 18 feet, about 31 square feet.
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