Where do I start with replacing sofas, carpet and repainting?

[Scrabsqueak]

I feel so embarrassed I have got to this great age and don’t know how to deal with this. I need to change a living room completely. How do I do this? I need to remove and replace two couches, replace carpet, and have walls repainted.
Where do I start? Which is the first thing to do? Help!

First thing is to figure out what colours you want to use. Do you like blues and greens or greys and whites? Other colours?

Clear all the furniture out if you can. If not can you move the furniture to one side, paint that wall then do the same with the other side ? Or could you get a reliable decorator in to help?
I wouldn't replace the carpet until I had finished painting in case of any drips.

Then get 2-3 quotes from a painter, choose a Dulux paint, and order some carpet samples. I say Dulux because they have every colour imaginable and professional painters seem to like it.

Check out delivery times on new furniture & order
Check out delivery times on carpet & order.
Choose paint. Its easier to match paint to fabric than the other way around.
Clear room.
Lift carpet.
Paint ceiling.
Paint Woodwork.
Paint or paper walls.
Get carpet laid.
Get furniture delivered.
Relax!

Paint first, carpet second, sofas third. Note that some sofas are made to order and require a 12 week wait.

You should plan the layout first, thinking about what you do in the room. Then use what you already have, buy some things vintage / antique / FBMP / ebay / auction house and once you've done that and only then buy anything you can't get any other way new. It's good for the environment, means you can afford better quality, and is just cooler to have a mix of eras in your house.

Do anything that will make a mess first, e.g. new electric sockets, changing a chimney piece, new windows etc. Then paint the walls, then do the floor, then put in your furniture.

But you can buy furniture earlier, we're doing our bedroom this year and because I mainly buy vintage I'm buying the furniture / curtains before I've painted so when I do paint everything can go in and be functional straight away. Does mean I currently have two colour schemes going on in the room at the moment though.

Should have said, will not be painting myself. Cannot clear much, no space and physically not able.
Thank you all, for the order, it was not the way I’d thought, so v glad I asked!

Phone BHF or Salvation Army to collect old sofas, and they will collect them and take them away

Painting first - ceiling, walls, woodwork; then carpet; then furniture.

I don’t think they have their fire safety tags anymore. And to be honest, the are so badly damaged by cats scratching that I doubt they would do anyone a turn now sadly.
Basically, I need to get rid of the old and clear as much of the room as possible, then get decorator in, then change flooring and finish with new couches?
That makes it a bit clearer as I had caught myself in a loop and wasn’t clear where to start.
Thank you everyone. I am lucky to live in an Edinburgh tenement, which however has very high ceilings and intricate coving at the ceiling so painting that myself is out of the question. Could do the walls I suppose, but might as well let decorators do it all!

If you can’t get anyone to take the furniture, book it all in for council collection. It’s £5 an item and then get someone to put it out on the street for you on the right date. Do you know anyone who could do this?

If you have somewhere else to sit, then just book the painter (get three quotes), then book the carpet for after it’s painted and the sofas for after that. Then get the furniture and carpets removed and await perfection.
Nobody knows how to do anything till they do it. It will be worth it once it’s done.

I always thought it was painting first but once I was in a financial position to start hiring a decorator he said always bring him in last after everything else is completed.

Have just done something similar in Edinburgh, but also did a bedroom at the same time. Glad to see you’re having a decorator, we also have the high ceilings so this will save a lot of effort on your part. BHF, Bethany or Edi Furniture Initiative if the old stuff is in good condition, if not then council

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/bins-recycling/request-collection-bulky-waste-items
but give yourself enough time for them to be collected -£5 per item.

New sofas can take several weeks after ordering. I agree with the order of painting, carpets, furniture. Ask the painter to cut away the carpet round the skirting in case the new carpet isn’t as dense so they can paint as low down it as possible.

Now I just need to find curtains for a Victorian bay window, all ready made ones are too short. I miss the curtain exchange at Kirkliston 😔

There's a company called Robins removals in Edinburgh. They will move furniture around for you. They're a bunch of ex rugby players and very flexible. I've used them several times. They would move furniture out and even take pieces downstairs if you wanted them collecting by the council pick up. They'd probably take them to the tip too if you needed but they get charged to do this so would pass that charge on. They're a great team. They are doing work for us soon. Picking up from one place and delivering to 3 addresses. Very flexible.

We did this once we realised that, under the loose covers, the furniture really was beyond redemption. It made everything so easy! When we looked properly, we saw that the sofa and chairs dismantled quite easily so perhaps someone could do that for you and take it kerbside?
Then definitely paint first, carpets next and furniture last but decide on your colour scheme and layout first do things coordinate well. Good luck - the building sounds lovely!

A decorator will normally just move your sofas/chairs into the middle of the room and cover them while they paint, so you don’t necessarily need to get rid until your new ones are due to arrive. When you choose the sofas, get a fabric swatch so you can take it to the paint shop. You can do room makeovers with AI which should help you (I’ve not used any of the apps but I’m sure there’s several)