Order Quantity Guide

Our best advice is to hire a professional

Our general guidelines are below, but our first advice is to use a professional wallpaper installer to do your measurement and order quantity work, and to use that same professional to complete the installation.  We don't offer refunds of you order too much, not do we guarantee a perfect color match if you didn't order enough to finish your project, because each order is printed on demand, and the print process can have minor variations between separate orders.

We can help

To help ensure you get your order quantity right, if you need some coaching, please e-mail us (info@desertpoppypaper.com).  We're happy to help before your order is placed.  Note that we don't offer refunds if you order too much.

Pattern repeats and trimming waste

Wallpapers with patterns need to be aligned to match the pattern "repeat" when installed. This means there will be some waste generated, when the next strip of paper is adjusted up or down to align the pattern, and when the width of the room or wall requires another roll width to complete the job.

Essential Dimensions

Our paper is printed to order, which allows custom length on the rolls, with a limit of 90 feet. The width is not customizable. All of our papers are 54" wide, with the printed image being 52" wide, plus a selvage (trim) strip of 1" on both edges.

This means that in determining your order quantity, you need to round up when setting your height, and your width.

For wall height, round up by 2.2 feet (26") for our typical vertical pattern repeat.  This allows each subsequent drop (strip or width) to be adjusted up or down as needed to align the patterns before trimming.  Some of our patterns have smaller vertical repeats, but a few are as big as 36".  Please check the product description for the product you are ordering.

For wall width, round up to the next 52" (4.33 ft) of width. For example, if your wall width is 14 feet, 3 roll widths would get you 52" x 3 widths of image, or 13 feet, falling short of the 14' requirement. Rounding up to 4 widths gets you to 52" x 4, some 208", or 17.33 feet. This width is more than the area you are covering, but is needed to complete the pattern repeat using 52" widths. Wallpaper roll widths are also known as "drops" from the installation phase.

Don't reduce your order for doors and windows

In measuring for order quantity, you don't delete for windows, doors, plumbing fixtures, etc., because the pattern must continue around the edges of those elements, and hoping to use trim pieces from cut ends might not give you the pattern match you need to continue the pattern on the wall.

Hence, total order quantities of 15% to 30% more than the net wall area to be covered are typical.

Quick Reference Table for Order Width

Here's a handy table for rounding up the order into full roll widths, and the final order quantity in feet.

Wall Width (ft)	Wall Width (in)	Units of 52"	Rounded Up (# of roll widths)	Order Width (ft)
8	96	1.85	2	8.66
9	108	2.08	3	12.99
10	120	2.31	3	12.99
11	132	2.54	3	12.99
12	144	2.77	3	12.99
13	156	3.00	3	12.99
14	168	3.23	4	17.32
15	180	3.46	4	17.32
16	192	3.69	4	17.32
17	204	3.92	4	17.32
18	216	4.15	5	21.65
19	228	4.38	5	21.65
20	240	4.62	5	21.65

If this leaves you confused about your order, just send us an e-mail with your phone number and we'll call to assist.