What Comes First: The Furniture or The Paint?

It's the age old question that homeowners have most difficulty with- what comes first, furniture or paint? And you'll find many different thoughts behind your logic- like, if I am just doing a tan on the walls I can do that first because then anything I pick for furnishings will match because it's a neutral...WRONG! I realize that seems logical in theory, but if you understand base colors, you'll realize that all colors have tints, tones or shades in thousands of levels that alter the "true" color, resulting in some sort of undertone. Let me explain...

Not so long ago I had a repeat client ask me to assist them with designing their new home. I had selected every wall color in their previous 5,300 square foot home to perfection and their happiness. When it was time to sell, the house sold swiftly with people fighting over the home because of the paint colors throughout. Even without the furniture, which they took with them, the house spoke to potential buyers. I was proud of that, and having done such a fine job, you would think they had total faith in my color consultations. 

This time they wanted to get away from the neutrals and go into "a color" as the husband put it--- grays. (lol, another neutral) They were excited and we went in search of the perfect sofa. With fan deck in had, at the store I selected coordinating shades of gray for the walls and, as the living room leads openly to the kitchen and then hall, chose similar grays in tints of that same color. (A tint is achieved by adding white to a color). In the store, not only did they love the sofa- which was a charcoal gray with a bluish undertone, but they understood and loved the wall colors as well.

Then came the problem- the painter painted the walls and for six weeks, while they awaited the sofas' arrival, they agonized over the blue in the wall color and how much they hate blue! BUT THEY LOVED IT ALL TOGETHER AS A WHOLE and when the wall color and the upholstery is together they do not look so blue. It just so happened that standing alone they were able to see the undertone. I begged for their patience because I knew they would love the end result but it's hard to get over a preconceived notion that you dislike something, especially a color. (I'll tell you the end result of this story in part 2).

Tan can have any variety of undertones. A shade of tan ( adding black to a color) can have a yellow undertone, while some tones of tan (adding gray to a color) might have an orange undertone. Sometimes a tan can have a pink or peach undertone, while other times it can appear to be a khaki (with a green undertone). A tan is never really just a light brown. This is where the strong eye of an interior designer comes into play. I can't tell you how many times a potential client spent hundreds, if not thousands on having their home painted and the colors simply did not match their furnishings because they painted first and bought later.

It is always easiest to select your paint colors based on your furnishings and then coordinate your window treatments, artwork and accessories with the combination of what you have selected. Paints can be altered in shade, tint or tone to achieve a match to a fabric, but despite the hundreds of upholstery choices you have for a "custom" sofa, you can't simply create a fabric to match the exact undertones of a wall color. Not only that, but purchasing your furniture first might open you up to accent and wall colors that you might not have ever considered. It's amazing what colors you can pull out of a good print and throw on your walls to produce stunning results and a great big AHHH when your friends come through the door!