---
title: "Wallpaper Roll Calculator with Repeat | Little Courtyard"
description: "How many rolls of wallpaper to buy: strips per wall and per roll with the pattern repeat and straight or half-drop match, for Euro or US double rolls."
url: https://littlecourtyard.homes/wallpaper-calculator/
---

Strips, repeats & rolls

# Wallpaper roll calculator

How many rolls to buy, worked out strip by strip the way a decorator hangs them: strips per wall, the length each strip takes once the pattern lines up, and how many strips one roll gives.

## How to use the wallpaper calculator

Enter the room's length and width, or switch to **Wall by wall** for a feature wall or a room with alcoves, and the height from the top of the skirting to the ceiling. Doors and windows are not taken off: their short strips above and below usually come out of offcuts, and the margin covers a mistake.

Pick the **roll size** from the label. The **pattern repeat** is the distance before the design starts again, and the **match** says how neighbouring strips line up:

- **Free match**: plain, textured or striped papers that line up anywhere, so nothing is lost.
- **Straight match**: the design runs straight across, so each strip is cut to a whole number of repeats.
- **Half-drop match**: every other strip is shifted down by half a repeat, so each strip is cut to whole repeats plus a half.

The **trim allowance** is the extra at the top and bottom for trimming to the ceiling and skirting (10 cm or 4 in in all is a common rule of thumb).

### Worked example

A 4 × 3.5 m room with 2.4 m walls has walls of 4, 3.5, 4 and 3.5 m. With 53 cm rolls they take 8, 7, 8 and 7 strips: 30 in all. Each strip is 2.4 m plus 10 cm trim, 2.5 m, rounded up to five 53 cm repeats, 2.65 m. A 10.05 m roll gives three such strips, so you need 30 ÷ 3 = 10 rolls.

Ordering cut samples first is the easiest way to check the colour and scale before you buy ten rolls. If a shop wants an email address before it sends them, a free inbox from [CleanTempMail](https://cleantempmail.com/) keeps the follow-up offers out of your own mail: no sign-up, and messages delete themselves after 3 days.

## Roll sizes and batches

Most European wallpaper comes on rolls 10.05 m long and 53 cm wide, about 5.3 m² of paper, which is the size Boråstapeter, a Swedish maker, gives as usual (its own papers can differ, so check the product). In the US, papers are commonly sold by the double roll: York Wallcoverings lists one design at 20.5 in × 33 ft, about 56.4 ft². Wide non-woven papers and murals come in other sizes, so use "Other size" with the figures from the label.

Wallpaper is printed in batches whose shade can differ slightly. Graham & Brown advises that all your rolls come from the same batch, printed on the label, and that you note it, because a later order may be from a different run.

## Sources

- Boråstapeter, [Wallpaper calculator guide](https://www.borastapeter.com/uk/our-guides/wallpaper-calculator): rolls are usually 10.05 m long and 53 cm wide; pattern repeat types (straight match, half drop).
- York Wallcoverings, [Colette wallpaper product page](https://www.yorkwallcoverings.com/colette-modern-wallpaper-by-york-gray): double roll of 20.5 in × 33 ft covering about 56.4 ft², with its repeat and match.
- Graham & Brown, [What is a batch number?](https://support.grahambrown.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407747771026-What-is-a-batch-number): buy every roll from the same batch.

## Questions

**How many rolls of wallpaper do I need for a 4 × 4 m room?**

With 2.4 m walls and 53 cm × 10.05 m rolls, each 4 m wall takes 8 strips, so 32 strips in all. A free-match paper gives 4 strips of 2.5 m per roll (8 rolls); a 53 cm straight-match repeat gives 3 per roll (11 rolls). The repeat makes that much difference.

**Where do I find the pattern repeat and match?**

On the roll label and on the product page, usually as a symbol and a length in centimetres or inches. If a paper is listed as free match or random match, choose free match here and the repeat is ignored.

**Why does a half-drop pattern need more paper?**

Each strip has to start half a repeat lower than the one before it, so when strips are cut one after another from the same roll, about half a repeat is lost between them. Some decorators cut from two rolls at once to save part of that.

**Should I subtract doors and windows?**

Not for rolls. The space over a door or under a window still needs short strips, and these are cut from offcuts. Leaving openings in gives a small margin, which is useful because a later roll may not match the batch.

**How much paper is lost to the trim?**

Each strip is cut a little longer than the wall so it can be trimmed neatly at the ceiling and skirting. The example allows 10 cm (about 4 in) per strip in all; uneven ceilings may need more.