Tbh I tend to pick my paint around my main furniture pieces, any future pieces I gat I try and match in somehow with the existing pieces, all paint colours are picked on the back of these after they are in my home.

I would say as sofa's are very expensive, it makes sense to get choose one that you love. One issue that seems to cause a few problems is how to make 'grey' and 'beiges' work together. Maybe have in mind a look that you like and try to find a way of it working. What colour is the sofa you are thinking of getting?

Definitely sofa and furniture first. You can then choose a wall colour that compliments your furniture. Otherwise you will be hunting round for a sofa to go with your walls rather than one you love. I wouldn’t choose the carpet yet either, in fact flooring would be the last thing I choose.

Hi Sal89, if you've fallen for a piece of furniture we'd say absolutely go for it. The beauty of paint is that you can change it as the mood takes you much more cost effectively than you can change a sofa. We offer a PEEL & STICK COLOUR BOOK (with peelable, stickable, reusable colour swatches) so you can easily try out different colours on your walls to see if they work with your furniture. You can even use them to take out shopping so you can check your home accessories are going to work with your colour palette! Let us know if you'd like us to send you one.

@beano that’s what I’m thinking of also doing. @colourhappy I can totally see that being a problem as so many different tones. ;) the one I have seen is an animal print one, you either love it or hate it! Lol. At the moment that OR a royal/navy blue velvet sofa. I would love to decide paint colours as I know this will be tricky.

@painthouse that sounds great! @forzaitalia that’s exactly what I can picture me running round trying hunt something I love.

I'm asked this a lot and always tell people that the paint colour is the very last thing to decide on - there are many thousands of colours available, and most in all the relevant paint finishes, so it is much easier to get your furniture and soft furnishings pinned down first. If possible get samples of all the finishes to take with you when looking for the paint colour.

I think sometimes it depends on your project. If you are redecorating the whole house or ground floor, you might want to choose the same flooring throughout, in which case you might pick that first. If you’ve fallen for a particular pattern for curtains or blinds then you might choose that before the sofa, so that the sofa tones in. If you’re going for a statement sofa then choose that before the curtains. I think paint comes last because it’s fairly cheap, easily changeable, there’s thousands of shades available and you can colour match if needed. Having said all that, some people want a small palette of colours throughout their whole home and they might want to choose that first and then find furnishings.

Flooring would also be at the top of the list for me. Firstly, practicality and secondly, control of budget.

I’m so glad I asked this now as I really thought it was the other way round. Well we have work starting in January and builders have said 6 months which I’d say 7-8! So I have plenty of time but it is a full house from top to bottom.

I always think furniture first, and if you can take a cushion or two paint shopping even better. Most of the DIY shops will offer a paint matching service these days, 'zapping' the cushion or whatever to get the perfect shade of paint right.

Personally, when re- doing a room, I always have my ideas in mind for a long time beforehand... the ideas grow together in my head, both paint and furnishings... I agree with all comments above, and will add that you should avoid buying all the furnishings in one go... let the room evolve naturally, little by little!

I think because we have a substantial amount to buy for the whole renovation I will buy little by little. Although wouldn’t it be wonderful if it came together at once! I think it’s nice to see pieces you love rather than buying for that sake of it.

With a timescale like that, you might want to check with the sofa shop that they will store the sofa free of charge until you’re ready for it. Some places will start charging after a couple of months.

Yes storage we have emptied the garage but yes for so long in the winter months wouldn’t want everything in there! My other concern is what if I buy and then next year they have new designs that I love. Dilemmas dilemmas. Think for the coming months Il get a good idea of looks I want and start actually shopping next year.

If you really love something it's worth buying because even if other fabrics come out that you'll also like, you will think "Oh I love that but I still love mine" if you already think there may be something out there you're like more, I'd say you don't like it enough to commit at this stage. Just my two cents :) I'd also be wary of buying anything until you've nailed down the style of your home - important if you're doing a whole house renovation and want that cohesive feel. We've swapped styles as, like you, had/have lots of time to think. What I originally thought I would go for, isn't the style we have settled

Jessa that is very true! Like my wedding dress I just loved it so I wasn’t bothered what I saw after! Suppose it’s the same here! And that’s it, once the house is built I want to get a “feel” of the house. Think I just need to hold my horses! :)