A grey sofa that looks cool and elegant in the showroom can turn oddly greenish at home. Usually the furniture isn't the problem; the light, the floor and the size of the room are. When you're deciding on a furniture color, start with your own flat rather than a swatch book. Most of the answers are already there.
Start with what isn't going to change
Floors, interior doors, window frames and kitchen fronts tend to stay for years. They're the backdrop of your home, and new furniture should talk to them, not argue.
The floor matters most. If your laminate or parquet has a warm, honey tone, a wooden wardrobe in the same shade will blend into it and lose its outline. Go for a noticeably darker walnut or a pale, greyish wood instead.
Walls are the easy part: repainting takes a day or two, while a sofa stays for years. So if you're renovating a new flat, choose the furniture first and the paint second, not the other way round. There are far more paint shades than upholstery options, and matching walls to a sofa is much easier than the reverse.
When you're picking interior furniture for a furnished flat, keep a daylight photo of the room on your phone. In the store, you'll compare shades against a real picture, not your memory.
Which way do your windows face?
North light is cool and diffused, and it dulls bluish and grey tones. In a room like that, warm beige, caramel, olive or brick red look more alive.
South- and west-facing rooms are the opposite. Yerevan's strong summer sun warms everything up, so cool grey, deep blue and soft green work well here. Fabric and leather can also fade in direct sun, so a curtain or a sofa set slightly back from the window helps.
In the evening, yellowish bulbs warm every shade again. So judge a furniture color in your own room's daytime and evening light, not the store's.
Calm for big pieces, bold for small ones
The sofa, wardrobe and dining table take up the most space and stay the longest. Give them a shade you won't tire of five years from now: sand, graphite, warm grey or natural wood. If you like modern furniture with clean lines, a neutral color lets the shape itself take center stage.
Bold furniture colors, on the other hand, are safest to try on smaller pieces: an armchair, an ottoman, a side table. A deep emerald or mustard armchair can become the accent of the room, and if you tire of it, it moves easily to the bedroom or study.
How to choose a furniture color when you have kids or pets
A snow-white sofa looks lovely in magazines, but with small children or a dog it quickly becomes a constant worry. Very dark fabric isn't the answer either, since hair and dust show up clearly on it.
Mid-tones are your best friends here: not too light, not too dark. Melange or lightly textured fabrics hide marks better than smooth, solid ones.
In a household like this, make furniture selection about care as well as looks. Ask how the fabric is cleaned, whether water leaves marks, and whether the covers come off.
Test before you decide
A few simple checks before you commit save a lot of disappointment:
- if possible, keep a fabric or wood sample for a few days in the room where the piece will stand;
- set it on the floor, by the wall, next to the curtain, among its real "neighbors";
- if you're torn between two shades, go for the softer one: a color always looks brighter on a large surface than on a small sample.
If you're stuck, Ashley's free design service can help: a specialist will think through furniture design and color with the whole room in mind. And if you're putting together your home interior step by step, start with one key piece and choose the rest around it.
The right color is rarely found at first sight. But once you factor in the light, the floor and the way you really live, the choice becomes calm, and the furniture becomes a natural part of your home.