How Much Wallpaper Do I Need? Measuring for Custom Print

To work out how much wallpaper you need for a custom printed mural, measure the width and height of each wall in millimetres, add 50 mm of bleed on every side, and divide the width by the print width of the material you have chosen. That gives the number of panels; panels × print width × height gives the print area. You don't count rolls or allow for pattern repeat, because the artwork is printed to your wall.

That is the short answer. This guide explains how to measure accurately, how bleed and print width change the numbers, and how to hand a measurement over to us. The Wall Calculator does all of it automatically, so you can check a wall in a minute before you write it into the drawing.

Custom print vs standard rolls: why the maths is different

Most "how much wallpaper do I need" advice assumes repeating rolls. A typical standard roll is about 0.53 m wide and 10 m long, so you count how many full-height drops each roll gives, then add extra for the pattern repeat and for mistakes. You end up buying more than the wall area, and some of it is waste.

A custom printed wallcovering works the other way round. VÉLLANO scales and crops the design to the dimensions you give us, then splits it into numbered panels sized to the material's print width. Each panel is printed for one position on one wall. There is no pattern match to lose, so there is no repeat allowance; what matters is an accurate measurement.

A Novarelle abstract printed as numbered panels and scaled to one measured wall

How to measure a wall for wallpaper

Treat every wall as its own drawing. A single measurement per wall is a guess, because ceilings, floors and corners are rarely true. A 50 mm error becomes a crop you did not choose, so take the time here.

1. Measure the width three times: near the ceiling, at mid-height and just above the skirting. Use the largest figure.
2. Measure the height three times: at the left corner, the centre and the right corner, from the finished floor or the top of the skirting to the ceiling or cornice line. Use the largest figure.
3. Work in millimetres. It avoids rounding errors and matches how we lay out panels. The calculator also accepts centimetres and feet.
4. Mark everything on the wall: doors, windows, sockets, switches, thermostats, grilles and any joinery that will cover part of it. Note the distance of each from a corner and the floor.
5. Photograph the wall square-on and note anything unusual: a sloping ceiling, a bulkhead, a column or a wall that turns a corner.

On a stair wall or under a sloping ceiling, measure the smallest rectangle that encloses the whole wall and mark the slope on the sketch. The artwork is printed across the full rectangle and the installer trims to the line. For a design that should read across more than one wall, measure each wall separately and tell us how they meet, so the crop is planned as one composition.

Noble Timbers, a Mr & Mrs mural where the horizon and focal points depend on an accurate wall height

Do you subtract doors and windows?

No. With a custom mural, openings are printed through and the installer cuts them out on site. If you deduct a door from the measurement, the artwork is composed for a wall that does not exist and the design will not line up around the frame. Give us the full wall and mark the openings, so we can keep important details of the design clear of them.

The same applies to sockets, switches and grilles. They are cut on site. What matters is their position, because nobody wants a face, a logo or a bird's eye sitting under a light switch.

Bleed, print width and panel count

Every VÉLLANO wall is printed with 50 mm of bleed on each side, so the print is 100 mm wider and 100 mm taller than the wall. Walls are rarely square, and the extra image lets the installer trim to the real ceiling, floor and corner lines without losing the design. If you supply your own artwork, it needs the same bleed; see preparing your artwork for wall printing.

The panel count is the printed width divided by the material's print width, rounded up. The print area is the number of panels × the print width × the printed height. Here is one wall, 3,000 mm wide and 2,700 mm high (8.1 m²), on each of the main ranges:

Two things follow from the table. First, a wider material does not always mean less print area: Canvas HD+ needs three panels here, like the fire-rated range, and the last panel is only partly used. Second, the number of joins is the panel count minus one. On the Eco range this wall has three joins; on the Luxe range it has none.

Choosing a material width for the wall

The material is chosen by the space first: a fire-rated base where the fire engineer requires one, a scrubbable surface for high-traffic walls, a softer finish for residential rooms. Once that is settled, the width decides where the joins fall.

• Corridors, lift lobbies and escape routes usually need Fabric Backed FR+ or DuraFlex FR, both B-s1,d0 and ASTM E84 Class A, at 1,295 mm. Plan the artwork so joins avoid faces, horizons and flat colour; the hotel wallcovering specification guide covers corridor layouts in detail.
• Feature walls, bedheads and lobbies with no fire requirement can use the 3,150 mm Luxe non-wovens for a seamless result. Read Seamless at 3.15 m for when it is worth it.
• Homes, show units and smaller walls often suit the 991 mm Eco paper-backed range, which is easy to handle in tight rooms.

A Novarelle design on a large feature wall, where a wide-width base keeps the joins out of the composition

Not sure which base fits? The Material Finder asks four questions, and Compare Materials puts widths, fire classes and certifications side by side.

Using the Wall Calculator

The Wall Calculator runs the sums above for every wall on a project. Choose a material, enter each wall's width and height in millimetres, centimetres or feet, and it draws the wall with its bleed, numbered panels and join positions. It totals the walls, panels, wall area and print area including bleed.

1. Add one row per wall and name it the way your drawings do (for example "Lobby W1" or "Bedhead 1205").
2. Switch between materials to see how the panel count and joins change.
3. Check the join lines against the design: move the crop, or choose a wider base, if a join lands on a focal point.
4. Send the sizes as a Project Enquiry or on WhatsApp straight from the tool. They arrive with the material already filled in.

A Palmera mural where the joins were planned against the measured wall before printing

Measurement checklist before you send

A complete measurement saves a round of questions and keeps the artwork on schedule. Before you send, check that you have:

• Width and height of every wall in millimetres, using the largest of three readings each way.
• A sketch or elevation showing doors, windows, sockets, switches and joinery, with distances from a corner and the floor.
• A square-on photo of each wall.
• Notes on sloping ceilings, bulkheads, columns and walls that meet at a corner.
• The material for each wall, or the zone (corridor, guest room, lobby) so we can recommend one.
• The design code, or your own artwork at 100 dpi or more at final printed size, checked with the Artwork Checker.

For anything critical, such as a lobby wall or a mural with a precise focal point, ask for a site measure before the artwork is finalised. Our checklist for specifying custom printed wallcoverings covers the rest of the brief, from colour references to the specification clause.