How to Measure Your Wall for Wallpaper

What You Need

You only need three things to measure your wall accurately. Keep them handy so you can jot down numbers as you go without losing your place.

• Measuring tape — a steel tape measure is preferred for accuracy; fabric tapes can stretch and give inaccurate readings over longer distances
• Notepad and pen — write down each measurement immediately; relying on memory leads to costly mistakes
• Calculator — your phone calculator works perfectly for adding trim allowances and converting units

Step 1: Measure the Width

Measure the width of your wall at the widest point, typically at the baseboard (skirting board) level. Walls are not always perfectly rectangular — they can be slightly wider at the bottom than at the top, or vice versa. Measuring at the widest point ensures full coverage.

Place the end of your tape measure flush against one corner where the wall meets the adjacent wall. Extend the tape across to the opposite corner. Read the measurement in either centimetres or inches — whichever you are more comfortable with. Record this number as your wall width.

Step 2: Measure the Height

Measure the height from the floor to the ceiling, or from the floor to the point where you want the wallpaper to end (for example, if you are creating a half-wall accent). Place your tape at the floor and extend it straight up. If the ceiling is uneven or has coving, measure to the highest point. Record this number as your wall height.

If you are wallpapering behind furniture (such as a bed headboard), measure the full wall height anyway. It is better to have extra material than to come up short if you rearrange furniture later.

Step 3: Add Trim Allowance

Add 2 inches (5 cm) to both the width and the height measurements. This extra material gives you room to trim cleanly at the ceiling, floor, and side edges during installation. Without this allowance, you risk gaps at the edges if your wall is even slightly uneven.

So if your wall measures 120 inches wide and 96 inches tall, enter 122 inches x 98 inches on the product page.

What About Doors and Windows?

Measure the full wall including any doors and windows. Do not subtract their area from your measurement. We print the wallpaper as full panels that cover the entire wall — you will cut around doors, windows, electrical outlets, and other obstacles during installation.

This approach ensures pattern continuity across the wall. If we printed panels with pre-cut holes, even a small measurement error would ruin the alignment.

Covering Multiple Walls

If you are wallpapering more than one wall in a room, measure each wall separately. Record the width and height for every wall. On the product page, use the "Multiple walls" option and enter the total combined width. Our design team will create panels that account for each wall's dimensions.

For L-shaped rooms, measure each straight section as a separate wall. Note which walls are adjacent so our team can ensure pattern flow around corners.

L-Shaped Walls, Arches, and Unusual Shapes

For walls with arches, alcoves, sloped ceilings, or any non-rectangular shape, note all dimensions carefully in the order notes section during checkout. Include the width and height of each section, along with the arch radius or slope angle if possible. A quick sketch or photo uploaded to the notes helps enormously.

Our team will review your notes and create a custom panel layout that fits your specific wall shape. We may reach out by phone or WhatsApp to confirm details before production.

Pattern Repeat Considerations

If you are ordering a wallpaper with a repeating pattern (as opposed to a single large mural), you need to account for pattern matching between panels. Add 10% extra to the height measurement to allow for aligning the pattern at the seams.

For example, if your wall height is 100 inches, enter 110 inches as the height. This gives the installer enough material to shift each panel up or down for perfect pattern alignment.

Unit Conversion Helper

Use these quick conversions if you measured in a different unit than what the product page requires:

• 1 foot = 12 inches = 30.48 cm = 0.3048 m
• 1 inch = 2.54 cm
• 1 metre = 100 cm = 39.37 inches = 3.281 feet

Our product pages accept dimensions in both inches and centimetres. Choose whichever unit you measured in to avoid conversion errors.