Okay, so you want to try something
a little more stimulating than painting your living room and have
decided that wallpaper is just the ticket. Now, how do you figure
out how much wallpaper you're going to need?
Wallpaper comes in a variety of widths
and lengths, and measuring accurately will ensure that your wallpapering
project will come off without a hitch. Keep in mind that when wallpapering
with paper that contains a repetitive pattern that you'll need to
order extra in order to ensure that your pattern remains consistent
throughout the room. Doing so will provide a professional, finished
look to any wallpaper job.
When preparing to wallpaper for the
first time, be aware of some basic wallpaper terminology. Such terms
as double roll, random or straight match, as well as drop match,
are common when looking at and ordering rolls of wallpaper.
Double Roll means that your
wallpaper roll is twice as long as a single roll. Typically, a double
roll of wallpaper can cover about 56 square feet, while a single
roll covers about 28 square feet.
Random Match means that you
won't have to worry about lining up your paper to match an existing
pattern. For example, vertical stripes are one type of random match
wallpaper.
Straight Match means that the pattern
on the wallpaper stops before the edge of the paper. However, it's
important to line up patterns so that designs or figures on the
wallpaper don't zig zag after hanging.
Drop Match means that designs
on the paper are sometimes dissected by the edge. After you hang
the first length, you must make sure that your design pattern lines
up with the pattern before it as you hand the second length. For
example, flowers are common in this type of wallpaper. Half of the
flower on the first hung strip of wallpaper must match up with the
other half of the flower on the next, and so on. For this type,
you will lose some paper in matching, so make sure to order extra.
When measuring a room, measure length
of a wall by the height of where you want your wallpaper to reach.
Some people hang wallpaper to the ceiling, while others only hang
a third or so up the wall and then top with molding or chair rails.
Measure length by width for each wall, disregarding windows
and doors. The extra paper will come in handy for repairs or botched
efforts. Having a little wallpaper left over is much better than
coming up short.
So, if you have a 9x12 foot room with
7 foot ceilings, and you want to hang paper to the ceiling, multiple
2x12x7=168. For the other two walls, measure 2x9x7=126. Add those
two figures together and you will come up with 294 square feet that
you need to cover with wallpaper.
Since double rolls cover approximately
56 square feet, estimate that you will need 6 double rolls of wallpaper
to cover your walls.
