Good taste isn't timid.
Pattern is a Decision.
How to Choose
A pattern is not a visual decision. It's an emotional one, and it's also a spatial one. A swatch on a screen can't tell you how a color will sit with you at seven in the morning with the coffee on, and it definitely can't tell you how a repeat will read at full height, or how a scale that looked bold on your laptop will actually feel filling a wall. Only the actual paper on your actual wall does that.
Browse the collections and pick up to three you're seriously considering. Add them to your cart the way you would any product, no separate sample checkout, no extra steps. They typically arrive within a week.
Once they're in hand, hold them to the wall. Not propped against a baseboard, actually held where the paper will hang, at the height it will sit. Look at them in the morning. Look at them at night. Step back to the far side of the room, then stand close enough to see the print. A pattern that works at a glance and a pattern that works up close are not always the same pattern.
While you're looking, drop the question you're probably asking, which is "is this too much." Wrong question. The right one is "is this me." Somewhere along the way, decorating started getting run by a hypothetical guest who might raise an eyebrow at the color or the scale. That guest does not live in your house. Their opinion is not a design plan. If you still love it every time you walk past it after a week, order with confidence. No pressure, and no rush to get there.
How to Measure
Enter your wall dimensions, we tell you how many rolls to order. One rule matters more than the tool itself: measure the longest or the tallest dimension of each wall individually, and ignore every door and window in that wall.
This feels wrong. It is not wrong. Pattern has to run continuously up and over openings for the repeat to match, so the paper gets cut as if the door or window isn't there. Measuring around them under-orders every time.
Do this wall by wall, not room by room. A room with four different wall heights needs four separate measurements. The calculator will round up to the nearest full roll. That overage is intentional. It costs less than a second order and a second wait.
Even better, use the calculator on the pages with the pattern you love and it will autopopulate the repeat type and dimensions and calculate the right number of rolls for that exact design. Cool huh?
Wallpaper Calculator
How many rolls do I need?
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This calculator estimates the amount of wallpaper you require. AWB will not be responsible for overage or shortage based on these calculations. Different designs will require varying quantities depending on the match type and the size of the repeat pattern.
§ 03
HANGING GUIDE
How to Hang Wallpaper
We partner with the best wallpaper printer in the world, full stop, and this guide is built on their decades of hanging experience, not guesswork from a brand that's only been doing this a few years.
Our paper is non-woven, pre-trimmed, and rated for paste-the-wall application, which is the easiest hanging method that exists. The paste goes on the wall, not the paper, so there's no soaking, no stretching, no waiting for it to relax. The material stays dry and stable while you work, and it's repositionable before the paste sets, so if the first hang isn't perfect, lift it and try again. Genuinely the most forgiving format on the market, which is exactly why we only work in it.
Do you need a professional? Not necessarily. Non-woven is the DIY-friendly format for a reason: the process is logical, the material is forgiving, and most rooms are more straightforward than you think. Where a professional earns their fee is complex rooms, alcoves, odd angles, and pattern matching across multiple breaks, whether that's a straight match, random match, half drop, or quarter drop. If that's your room, we can point you to someone. And if you're hiring one regardless, send them this link. It's the same one they'd use anyway.
Bathrooms and kitchens? Non-woven handles moderate humidity without complaint. The limits: no direct water contact, no steam, nothing inside a shower enclosure, nothing directly above a stove. Everywhere else in those rooms, go for it.
On dye lots. Order every roll for a project in a single transaction. We batch print per order to hold color consistency, and a reorder from a different batch may not match exactly. Our calculator already builds in a buffer for pattern matching, but if you're caught between quantities, order the extra roll. Different patterns need different amounts depending on match type and repeat size. When the math is close, round up.
Measuring, and the walls that refuse to cooperate. Unusual spaces, awkward angles, numbers that aren't adding up. If you're not sure, ask before you order rather than after.
Full step-by-step instructions, inspection to aftercare, are in the printable guide below.
§ 04
RULES WORTH BREAKING
Most of the rules attached to color, pattern, and scale in a home were never rules.
Before you rule anything out, rule these out first.
North Facing Rooms
North-facing room, so it has to be white. Or south-facing, if you're reading this from Melbourne or Sydney rather than London, since the light math runs the other direction below the equator. Either way, the logic doesn't hold.
Light direction changes how a color reads over the course of a day. It doesn't disqualify a color, or a bold pattern, from being used. A room that gets cool, indirect light all day can carry a warm, saturated pattern extremely well, and often needs it more than a sun-drenched room does.
Choosing white by default isn't playing it safe, it's not choosing at all.
Everything Has To Match
Everything has to match. It doesn't, and rooms where it does tend to feel like a hotel lobby rather than somewhere a person actually lives.
The rooms that hold up over time are the ones where the pattern is allowed to be the loudest thing in the space, at whatever scale it wants to be, and everything else in the room is doing less work by design.
Coordination isn't matching. It's knowing what gets to be quiet so one thing can be loud.
Dark Colors Make a Room Feel Smaller
Dark colors, or big patterns, make a small room feel smaller. Often the opposite. A dark, dense pattern at a generous scale can make a small room feel intentional and enclosing rather than cramped and undersized, particularly somewhere with no natural focal point to begin with, like a powder room or a stair landing.
What actually shrinks a room is a scale chosen wrong for the space, not the darkness of the color or the size of the repeat on its own.
A petite print can overwhelm a small room just as easily as an oversized one if it's chosen without thinking about how it multiplies across four walls.
None of this means every room can take every pattern or every scale.
Measure your walls, order your three samples, and decide from what's actually in front of you, not from some arbitrary rule.
Frequently asked questions
What size are the samples?
We offer a small sample sized (11.6 × 16.5 in) for a first look and a larger yard sample (24.2 x 36 in) for anyone still deciding. Order what you need before you order the roll.
How long do samples take to arrive?
Three to five business days, generally. No separate checkout, no waiting on a form.
What's the difference between a single roll and a double roll?
Every AWB roll is 24.2 inches wide and 33 feet long, our own specification rather than a generic industry size. If your project calls for what's traditionally called a double roll, order two of ours. If it calls for a single roll, order one.
Don't confuse a double roll with a two or four-roll set, which is a design sold specifically as a matched pair or quad.
What's a four-roll set?
A design meant to be read across a wider span than a single or double roll can cover, so it's sold as one matched unit of four rather than four separate purchases. The rolls are printed together to hold the pattern's continuity across that full width.
We also sell these designs as two-roll half sets, so you're not forced into buying more than a project actually needs. This is where the calculator does its work: it totals the number of rolls your walls require, then breaks that number down into however many four-roll sets you need, plus a two-roll set if there's a partial one left over. You order exactly what it tells you, not a guess rounded up to the nearest full set.
Will a second order match my first?
Not guaranteed. We print to order rather than holding batch stock, so a reorder placed later may land in a different print run with a slight shift in color.
Order every roll a project needs in one transaction, and if you're between quantities, round up rather than risk a second order later.
What if a roll arrives damaged?
Inspect every roll before you hang, and again after the first two or three lengths go up. Photograph the issue and get in touch as soon as you spot it, ideally before the paste dries.
Catch it early and it's a fast fix.
What does paste-the-wall actually mean?
The adhesive goes on the wall, not the paper. No soaking, no pasting table, no waiting for the paper to relax. It cuts hanging time roughly in half and it's the reason this format is so forgiving for a first-time hanger.
What's a butt join?
Where two strips meet edge to edge with no overlap. Every AWB roll finishes this way. A seam roller can help settle a lifted edge, but go gently, pressing too hard pushes the adhesive back out.
What's the difference between pattern repeat and pattern match?
Repeat is the vertical distance before the design repeats itself. Match is about how the two edges of a strip line up with the strip next to it, straight match lines up on the same plane, half or quarter drop offsets it, and random match has no fixed alignment at all, so seams are more forgiving. Your product page tells you which applies.
Larger repeats and drop matches need more paper to account for the matching, which is already built into our calculator.
Can I use this in a bathroom or kitchen?
Yes, with limits. It handles moderate humidity without complaint. What it doesn't handle: direct water contact, steam, inside a shower enclosure, or directly above a stove. Everywhere else in those rooms, go for it.
Can I clean it?
Yes. A lightly dampened cloth with a mild, detergent-free soap, then dry immediately with a clean cloth. Don't oversaturate it and don't scrub. Grease, ink, and crayon may not fully lift.
Do I need to hire someone?
Not necessarily. The material is forgiving and the process is logical enough for most rooms. Complex spaces, alcoves, odd angles, and pattern matching across multiple breaks are where a professional earns their fee.
Do you offer trade pricing?
Yes. Visit the Trade page to apply.