Roll Call: Shopping for Wallpaper? First Know the Lingo
We demystify terms and concepts such as repeat, pattern match and roll size
Purchasing wallpaper can be a confusing experience. If wallpaper lingo — such as repeat, pattern match and single versus double rolls — makes you feel like a dithering hot mess, here’s a quick guide to get you rolling.
Don’t confuse scale with repeat. This seemingly small-scale wallpaper design by Peter Fasano has a surprisingly large 19½-inch repeat.
Pattern Match
The pattern match describes how the repeat is physically adjusted on the wall surface so that the design elements match up between adjacent strips. There are three types of pattern matches: straight, drop and random.
Straight match. A straight match, also called side match or side-to-side match, is when the design motif matches at the same point on each of the adjacent panels. Each panel starts and ends with the same point of the pattern repeat, so the first strip is the same as strip two, and strip three, and so on.
A straight pattern match has some, but not a lot of, material waste. This powder room wallcovering is an example of a straight match.
The pattern match describes how the repeat is physically adjusted on the wall surface so that the design elements match up between adjacent strips. There are three types of pattern matches: straight, drop and random.
Straight match. A straight match, also called side match or side-to-side match, is when the design motif matches at the same point on each of the adjacent panels. Each panel starts and ends with the same point of the pattern repeat, so the first strip is the same as strip two, and strip three, and so on.
A straight pattern match has some, but not a lot of, material waste. This powder room wallcovering is an example of a straight match.
Although a more intricate design, this wallpaper is another example of a straight match. You can tell because the seahorse motif runs horizontally, or straight, across the room from strip to strip.
Drop match. A drop pattern match is a design motif that drops, or is lowered, vertically between the matching design elements next to it. The most common is a half-drop pattern repeat, where the motif drops midway between the adjacent motif. The effect is often a diagonal pattern, as seen here in Schumacher and Co.’s Indore Paisley wallpaper.
For projects using a half-drop patterned wallpaper, every other strip must be slid up (or down) so that the design sits midway between the design of the previous strip. So, with a half-drop pattern match, odd-numbered strips will be cut identically, while even-numbered strips will also be identical, but offset from their odd-numbered counterparts. It takes three strips of wallcovering to repeat the vertical repeat with a half-drop pattern match.
A drop pattern match requires a higher quantity of wallpaper and, of the three options, wastes the most material.
For projects using a half-drop patterned wallpaper, every other strip must be slid up (or down) so that the design sits midway between the design of the previous strip. So, with a half-drop pattern match, odd-numbered strips will be cut identically, while even-numbered strips will also be identical, but offset from their odd-numbered counterparts. It takes three strips of wallcovering to repeat the vertical repeat with a half-drop pattern match.
A drop pattern match requires a higher quantity of wallpaper and, of the three options, wastes the most material.
Here is another example of a half-drop pattern repeat. See how the parrot motif drops midway between the other parrot designs immediately surrounding it?
However, random matches aren’t limited to only solid or textured wallcoverings. Some have a design, but the motif is nonrepetitive or doesn’t rely on an adjacent strip to complete its design. Sometimes, this is also called a free pattern match, like the whimsical Funky Frames wallpaper by Graham & Brown shown here. For this wallpaper, how adjacent strips are positioned next to one another is up to the installer’s discretion.
A wallpaper doesn’t necessarily have to be designed as a random match to be installed as one.
This wallpaper has a full starburst design motif down the middle of the roll. This placement allows for more freedom since there are no partial design motifs that need to be matched up. While in all likelihood this wallpaper was designed to be installed as a half-drop pattern, the installer slid the strips up so that the motif rests only about a quarter of the way, versus halfway, giving the project a subtle but unexpected look.
See How Wallpaper Can Transform a Room
This wallpaper has a full starburst design motif down the middle of the roll. This placement allows for more freedom since there are no partial design motifs that need to be matched up. While in all likelihood this wallpaper was designed to be installed as a half-drop pattern, the installer slid the strips up so that the motif rests only about a quarter of the way, versus halfway, giving the project a subtle but unexpected look.
See How Wallpaper Can Transform a Room
Roll Size
Measurements and pricing. The two most common wallpaper widths are 27 and 20½ inches. American-made wallpaper rolls typically are 27 inches wide. European and metric rolls come in 20½-inch widths.
Wallpaper today is usually sold in double-roll sizes. A double roll, or bolt, of American wallpaper is 27 feet long and covers about 61 square feet. European and metric double rolls measure about 33 feet long (10 meters) and cover about 56 square feet.
Even though wallpaper typically is sold in double rolls, you will sometimes see it priced by the single roll. This is because single-roll lengths (13½ feet long for American wallpapers, about 16½ feet long for European) are the standard unit of measurement for the industry. So at a wallcovering store, for example, you might order four single rolls but receive two double rolls. Some retailers simplify the pricing structure and charge by the double roll.
Find the perfect wallpaper for your home
Measurements and pricing. The two most common wallpaper widths are 27 and 20½ inches. American-made wallpaper rolls typically are 27 inches wide. European and metric rolls come in 20½-inch widths.
Wallpaper today is usually sold in double-roll sizes. A double roll, or bolt, of American wallpaper is 27 feet long and covers about 61 square feet. European and metric double rolls measure about 33 feet long (10 meters) and cover about 56 square feet.
Even though wallpaper typically is sold in double rolls, you will sometimes see it priced by the single roll. This is because single-roll lengths (13½ feet long for American wallpapers, about 16½ feet long for European) are the standard unit of measurement for the industry. So at a wallcovering store, for example, you might order four single rolls but receive two double rolls. Some retailers simplify the pricing structure and charge by the double roll.
Find the perfect wallpaper for your home
There is solid reasoning behind the double-roll length. Double rolls are a more efficient use of material. For example, a single roll of American wallpaper at 13½ feet would yield only one strip for a standard 8-foot-high ceiling, and about 5 feet of each roll would be wasted. A 27-foot-long double roll, however, would yield three strips. European rolls at 33 feet long can sometimes yield four strips.
The important thing to remember is to look at wallpaper specifications carefully before buying and make sure you know what you are getting.
Find a wallcovering professional
The important thing to remember is to look at wallpaper specifications carefully before buying and make sure you know what you are getting.
Find a wallcovering professional
Untrimmed vs. trimmed. Some wallpapers, particularly high-end papers, are sold as “untrimmed.” This means that the factory selvage edge is still attached and requires removal before installation. The edge has registration points to match up the pattern, as seen here.
Trimmed wallpapers have the selvage edge removed in the factory before packaging.
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A repeat is a numerical figure that indicates the vertical distance between one design motif and where the same motif is printed again, or repeats, on the wallpaper.
This wallpaper’s repeat is 27 inches in width (the horizontal width of the wallpaper itself) by 3 inches in length, or vertically. This means that the center point of each arrow is 3 vertical inches away from the next arrow design. A repeat can be very small, an inch or two, to extremely large.
Repeat is important is because it, together with the pattern match, described later, affects the amount of wallpaper you’ll need to order and the complexity of its installation.