Chimney Breasts
Chimney Breast Wallpaper Calculator: A Feature Wall with a Recess
Updated: Aug 2026
A chimney breast is the classic living-room feature wall, but it isn't a flat wall — it projects out into the room, which means it has a front face plus two short side walls where it meets the rest of the room, and often an alcove with its own depth on each side. A plain feature-wall calculator that just wants one width and one height has nowhere to put the projecting sides. Here's how to measure a chimney breast properly instead of treating it as a single flat wall.
Open the Wallpaper PlannerThe breast face and its two return walls are three separate measurements
Because the chimney breast projects out from the main wall line, it has a front face plus a short return wall on each side where it meets the flat wall at roughly 90° — three distinct measurements, not one. Skipping the returns because they're narrow is the most common way a chimney-breast job comes up short, the same trap an alcove's own return walls set.
Decide upfront whether you're papering the alcoves too
Many chimney-breast jobs paper just the projecting face and leave the alcoves either side painted, which is the simpler job and the one this calculator assumes by default. If you're papering the alcoves in the same or a matching paper, measure and cut them together with the breast so the pattern lines up around each corner — see the alcove guide below for that case specifically.
A mantelpiece or shelf breaks the wall height
Most chimney breasts carry a mantel shelf partway up, which means the wall above and below it are effectively two separate sections rather than one continuous height — measure each independently instead of running one height straight through where the shelf actually interrupts the wall.
Projecting corners waste more per strip than a flat feature wall
The extra corners a chimney breast introduces work the same way an alcove's corners do: each return wall uses only a narrow strip width, and matching the pattern around the corner from the face onto the return costs more offcut than a single flat wall of the same total width would. Expect a somewhat higher waste percentage than the equivalent flat feature wall, and don't read it as a mistake in the estimate.
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Try the living room calculator →Order a buffer roll for the extra returns and corners
Between the returns, the mantel-shelf split, and the corner pattern-matching, a chimney breast has more places for a small miscut to cost a full extra strip than a flat feature wall does. A single buffer roll is cheap insurance against re-ordering mid-job, especially if the paper is a specialty print with a dye lot that might not be available a second time.
A fireplace surround or hearth shortens the wall at the bottom
Many chimney breasts have a fire surround, hearth, or a run of exposed brick at the base that isn't papered — the breast might only need covering from around 40-60cm up rather than from the skirting board. Measure the actual paperable height from the top of the surround to the ceiling, not the full wall height, or you'll buy rolls to cover fireplace stonework that never gets papered over.
A TV bracket or alcove shelf recessed into the face needs its own cut-out
A flush-mounted TV bracket, a recessed media niche, or a run of floating shelves fixed straight into the chimney breast face all interrupt the paper run and need their own cut allowance, not just a hole cut freehand on site. Measure the fixing's exact position and dimensions before you cut strips, and factor in whether the pattern needs to continue behind it or can break at that point — usually it can, since a TV or bracket hides the join.
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See plans & pricingCommon questions
Do I need to paper the alcoves too, or just the chimney breast?
Most jobs paper just the projecting breast face as the feature wall and leave the alcoves painted — that's the simpler job. If you want the alcoves papered as well, whether matching or in a contrasting paper, treat them as their own measurement rather than folding them into the breast total.
How does a chimney breast affect the roll count compared to a flat feature wall of the same width?
It's usually a bit higher, not because the breast face itself is different, but because the two return walls and their corners add strips and offcut that a single flat wall wouldn't have — the same effect an alcove's returns have on a room total.
Can the planner handle a chimney breast directly?
Yes — draw it as a stepped or free-form outline in the room editor, with the breast face and its two returns as their own wall segments, the same way you'd draw a stairwell or any other non-rectangular room.
What if the lower part of the chimney breast is exposed brick or stone?
Measure only the paperable section above it — commonly from the top of the surround or hearth to the ceiling — rather than the full wall height. This is a smaller area than the breast's total height suggests, so don't over-order based on floor-to-ceiling dimensions.
Should I use a bolder or more expensive paper on the chimney breast than the rest of the room?
It's a common approach — a chimney breast is naturally the room's focal wall, so a higher-cost designer paper works well there while cheaper paint or plain paper covers the remaining walls. Since it's usually the smallest wall area in the room, splurging here costs far less than papering the whole room in the same paper.
More wallpaper guides
Get your exact roll count
Draw your walls — including sloped sections, alcoves, and single feature walls — and get a free estimate before you buy.
Open the Wallpaper PlannerPlanning a specific room? See how much wallpaper you need →
Ready to count rolls? Try the Living Room calculator →
Quoting this as a job, not a DIY project? Try the contractor estimator →
Got alcoves either side of the chimney breast too? Wallpaper for an alcove guide →
Making it a bold feature wall? Feature wall colour ideas →
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