Dad, “how do you figure out square footage?” I am going to confess, prior to installing our removable kitchen backsplash, I was not sure how many tiles I needed and how to calculate square footage was making my brain hurt. Would you believe me if I told you that I had my painters tape out and was mapping it out on the wall and trying to determine how much tile I needed? Oh yes, my dad came home from lunch one afternoon to find me taping off our backsplash in the kitchen. Needless to say, I learned fairly quickly how to calculate square footage.
How to calculate square footage {backsplash}
I knew I was in trouble when the tile guy said, “how many square feet do you have?” Umm, I’ll call you right back on that.
How to figure square foot
How to figure square footage isn’t difficult as long as you know this tip.
Measure length x width (in inches) and take that total number and divide it by 144. That gives you the square footage of your area.
In my case, this particular wall was 13 feet (156″) in length and 1 foot (12 inches) in width for a total of 1872 inches (156×12). Divide total inches 1872 by 144 (total square inches in a foot) = 13 (square feet). Math was not my strong suit in school so that little o’l “144” threw me off! ha. My dad said, “all that money I spent on college and you can’t remember how many square inches in a foot?”. Nope, I think I skipped that day. I am happy to say, I know how to determine square footage now.
UPDATE: This kitchen has been completely gutted and renovated. Click to See the new DIY Kitchen Renovation
UPDATE: This kitchen has been fully gutted, walls torn down and an additional 400 square feet added. See new DIY kitchen renovation reveal (click link) or click image below to see the amazing new kitchen.
We updated this kitchen two times, once where we painted the old cabinets and then a big overhaul, tearing down a wall, adding new kitchen cabinets and an island. Here is a peek below at the new island. You can see the entire new DIY kitchen reveal here.
How to calculate square footage
If you are anything like me, math makes my brain hurt and that’s why I hang my pictures and shelves with painters tape. Be sure to check out that painters tape post if you struggle with measurements. ha. How to calculate square footage really isn’t that difficult once you do it a couple times. Hopefully for those of you with simple math brains like me, this helps you move forward with your backsplash project and how to calculate square footage.
Lorianne says
Ha, I too have a college degree and have to google “how do I calculate square feet” every so often. What’s up with the “144” anyway? My dad told me to “look it up” just like the time when I was little and wanted to know how to spell pneumonia. Some of these rules just hurt your brain! Could you please ask gramps what’s up with the “144”? 🙂
Jaima says
Awesome tip! The 144 is because there’s 144″ in a sq ft (12″ length x 12″ width). I always remember this by the size of 1 floor traditional floor tile (like in schools, which is where I learned that).
Lorianne says
See, you were paying attention in school! Thanks, now I will not ever have to google or ask pops again…haha!
Jessica Bruno says
Math was certainly not my thing! ha
Jessica Bruno says
Thank you Jaima!
Anonymous says
A Square foot is 12 in by 12 in. Thus to find square inches in a sugared foot you multiply 12 by 12= 144
Mandy says
Thank you for the tip! Now my husband will think I’m so smart because I won’t have to ask him :-). Love the blue back splash.
Jessica Bruno says
Thank you Mandy 🙂
Thistle says
Can I tell you…..my head hurt just looking at that title! Good thing you were around to help me figure it all out!
blessings,
karianne
Cynthia says
It the same for measuring floors.
Jacquie says
This is why I became a hairstylist! :-/ This really brought back the memories of why I disliked math so much. Thank you for posting this because it completed my measuring backsplash experience. Now I can order my tile.
Anonymous says
Very pretty
Ben says
Where did you get your blue tile from?
Lou says
Thank you! This is exactly what I needed! I did a Google search about measuring sq. ft. and this was one of the first things to pop up. So helpful, thanks!
elyse says
wow the backsplash looks great
Jessica Bruno says
Thank you!