What Should I Do First, Paint My House or Pick My Furniture?

So you just moved into your new home. Now what? In a classic chicken and egg scenario, what comes first; painting the walls or picking out furniture?

There is no right answer, but there are pros and cons to both sides, based on personal preference, budget, and difficulty.

Painting First:

Pro –

• Furniture is expensive, but it is easier to change out of the room than a paint color. If you ultimately don’t like the way a chair matches the wall color, simply move the chair to another room with a different color. But if you don’t like the way the already painted wall looks with the new furniture, switching the color can be a tedious and expensive change.
• By painting the walls first, you also set a direction and initiative when it comes to purchasing furniture, as having so many choices, options, and decisions can become tiring. When your walls are a certain color, you find complimentary colored furniture and go from there.
• For color inspiration, try the ColorSnap Sherwin-Williams Visualizer tool.

Con –

• You can buy every paint color, in any variation of ways. If the store doesn’t carry the exact color you want, have the paint mixed into any color you can imagine. But furniture can be unique and irreplaceable, and finding a rare piece isn’t easy.
• So paint is more versatile than furniture, therefore if you furnish first, it can cause you more hardship in the future when it comes to decorating and color coordinating in the long run.
• In fact, Architectural Digest says that painting first is a big decorating don’t! It can be difficult to truly get an eye for how colors and patterns and textures match and complement each other when it comes to wall and furniture color.

Furnishing First:

Pros –

• The main reason why you should furnish your home before picking a wall color is that if you have certain pieces of furniture with a bold or eccentric color, you can already anticipate them being the center of attention within the room. There is no question that a nice piece of furniture can add the perfect touch of personality to a room, but are more expensive in comparison to a can of paint.
• While some may prefer to get their inspiration from starting with the wall color, others may prefer a different method. By furnishing first, your ultimate vision of your desired room may come easier than it would starting with a blank pallet and one wall color. If you lack direction, knowing what type, size, color of furniture you want can help get the ball rolling.
• For furniture inspiration, you could try searching Pinterest, flipping through a magazine, or checking out your local furniture store.

Cons –

• The order in which you move furniture into your home is important, as painting around bulky items is difficult, not to mention that painting around furniture also has the potential to damage it too. So buying furniture first, then painting second, could result in some difficulty when it comes to storing the new furniture someplace out of the way, or maneuvering around it during the painting process.

When you decide you are ready to paint your walls, the Arizona Painting Company is waiting! We are out to change the home improvement industry and are confident that we will exceed your expectations.

In fact, we want to help you plan your paint job. We offer a color consultation to find your interior paint color through a color visualizer tool, and expert advice. Schedule a painting quote with Arizona Painting Company today!