How much garland do I need? The math for doors, mantels and stairs

Have you ever hung a brand new garland and realized it just doesn’t reach? Or it reaches, but it lies there flat with no swag at all? Today I’m sharing the simple math I use for mantels, stair railings and front doors so you can buy the right amount the first time! For a quick answer: 1.5 times the mantel for flat, 2 times for a swag, and 3 times for a deep drape. For stairs, it’s the rail length plus 30%. A standard front door takes roughly 20 to 24 feet. Then round up to whole 9 ft pieces, because that’s how almost all faux garland is sold.

I’ll be honest, I learned every one of these the hard way. My very first mantel garland was one 9 ft piece on a 5 ft mantel, and it just laid there like a scarf on a shelf! The stairs went even worse. I bought one 9 ft garland for a 14 ft rail (not my proudest math moment). So I’ve put every formula I use now into tables below, and you don’t even have to do the math!

What You’ll Need:

1. A tape measure

2. Something to write your numbers down on

3. Garland (the tables below tell you how much!)

4. 22 Gauge Green Paddle Wire - for joining pieces together

Step 1. Measure the Right Thing

Grab a tape measure before you start shopping. Here’s what to measure for each spot:

• Mantel: the width of the shelf itself, end to end.
• Stairs: the handrail, from the newel post at the bottom to where you want the garland to stop at the top. Measure along the rail, not along the floor.
• Front door: the outside edge of the trim, not the door. Measure from the porch floor to the top of the trim (usually about 7 ft on a standard 80 inch door), and across the trim from outside edge to outside edge.

Write the numbers down! I’ve stood in a store aisle more than once trying to remember if my rail was 12 feet or 14.

Step 2. Find Your Number

Mantel

Multiply your mantel width by 1.5 for garland that lies across the shelf with a little tail hanging off each end. Multiply by 2 for a gentle swag across the front. Multiply by 3 for the heavy, dramatic drape where the ends run down the sides of the fireplace.

Mantel width	Flat, short tails (1.5x)	Gentle swag (2x)	Deep drape (3x)
4 ft	6 ft (one 9 ft piece)	8 ft (one 9 ft)	12 ft (two 9 ft)
5 ft	7.5 ft (one 9 ft)	10 ft (two 9 ft)	15 ft (two 9 ft)
6 ft	9 ft (one 9 ft)	12 ft (two 9 ft)	18 ft (two 9 ft)
7 ft	10.5 ft (two 9 ft)	14 ft (two 9 ft)	21 ft (three 9 ft)

Add a foot if you’re putting a big bow or a cluster of pinecones in the center, because those take up some of your drape. If you want a mantel that looks full and not just long, my trick is layering two garlands. I use a plain, cheap one underneath and a nicer one on top. A 9 ft Winchester Pine is my go-to base layer because it’s plain and inexpensive, and nobody ever sees it anyway. I walk through the whole layering and hanging process in how to hang garland on a mantel.

One thing that surprised me is that some 9 ft garlands have a few bare inches at each end where the wire sticks out for connecting. That’s not usable length, so don’t plan it down to the inch!

Stair Railing

Take your rail length and add 30%. That extra 30% is what the dips between your tie points use up. If you like it snug along the rail, 15% is plenty. If you want deep, swoopy swags, add 50%.

Rail length	Snug (+15%)	Classic swag (+30%)	Deep swag (+50%)	9 ft pieces for a classic swag
8 ft	9 ft	10.5 ft	12 ft	2
10 ft	11.5 ft	13 ft	15 ft	2
12 ft	14 ft	15.5 ft	18 ft	2
14 ft	16 ft	18 ft	21 ft	2 (just barely) or 3
16 ft	18.5 ft	21 ft	24 ft	3

If you want a tail hanging down the newel post at the bottom, add 2 to 3 feet on top of that.

You’ll see other guides say 1.5 times the rail length, or “count your steps and double it.” Both of those work, they just give you deeper swags than I like on stairs we use every day. I tie mine every 18 to 24 inches, and at that spacing 30% gives a nice soft dip that won’t catch anyone’s elbow. Where to tie it so it doesn’t slide is a whole other post, and you can find it in how to hang garland on a stair railing.

Front Door

Double the height to the top of the trim, add 1.5 times the width across the trim, and add 2 feet if you want the ends to pool. The height covers both sides. The 1.5 times gives the top a little bit of swag so it isn’t a stiff straight line. The extra 2 feet gives you about a foot of puddle on each side of the porch.

Door	Up both sides + across the top	With ends pooling	What to buy
Standard single (36 x 80 in door, trim about 3.5 ft x 7 ft)	about 19 ft	about 21 ft	three 9 ft, or two 9s and a 6
Tall single (8 ft door, trim about 8.5 ft)	about 22 ft	about 24 ft	three 9 ft
Double doors (two 36 in doors, trim about 6.5 ft wide)	about 24 ft	about 26 ft	three 9 ft
Swag across the top only (standard door)	about 5 to 6 ft	n/a	one 6 ft, or a 9 with short tails

These numbers are rounded, so measure your own trim! Some front doors have sidelights, and the trim runs a lot wider than 3.5 feet.

Also keep in mind that garland on a door gets a lot more weather than garland on a mantel. I go with an unlit garland and add my own outdoor-rated lights. That way, one dead pre-lit section doesn’t take out the whole thing.

Step 3. Round Up to 9 ft Pieces

You’re almost never buying your exact number, because faux garland comes in 6 and 9 ft pieces (with a few longer ones here and there). So here’s what I do:

1. Round up to the next full piece. If you need 10 feet, that means two 9s. Don’t buy one 9 and hope for the best!
2. Buy the same garland for every piece. Two different garlands joined in the middle will always show the seam, even if they’re both “pine.” This faux garland comes as two 9 ft strands, which makes matching easy.
3. Plan your joints for the bottom of a swag. Nobody looks at the bottom of a dip. Wire the two ends together there with 22 gauge green paddle wire, twist twice, and tuck the sharp ends into the greenery.
4. Buy it all at once. The popular garlands get hard to find by December. Going back for “one more piece” of the same one is how you end up with a mismatched seam.

If you’re still choosing which garland to buy, I tested a bunch and shared the ones I’d buy again in faux garland that doesn’t look faux.

Step 4. Use the Extra

If you round up like I suggest, you’ll sometimes have leftover garland. That’s the good problem to have! Coil the extra at the ends of the mantel so it puddles, tuck a doubled-back section behind the main run to make it look fuller, or snip a piece off and stick it in a vase or a lantern. Not having enough garland is the only version you can’t fix.

Are you hanging garland on a mantel, stairs or a front door this year? I hope this helped you figure out exactly how much to buy! If you use these numbers, be sure to post on Instagram and tag me @sugardesignco because I love seeing the beautiful decor y’all create!

-Ciera

Made something with this? Tag me @sugardesignco — I love seeing them.