In what order do I refurb my living room?

[catmg]

I need new light fittings, new floor, want to take out the fireplace and that will require new skirting board along that wall. Also need to paint walls and ceiling and wallpaper one wall.

What should be done first?

And any tips on how to prioritise styling choices? All be furniture etc required . I have heard that I should choose new sofa first and make other choices eg paint, wallpaper etc around that?

With thanks for any guidance!

[stuntbubbles]

Depends on the floor: do you want engineered wood that would look better finished with skirting on top, versus beading on the edges?

Light fittings are easy to do whenever unless you want to move it.

Do the fireplace first – dusty. I take it from the skirting board you’re not replacing it, which is a shame! But do that first, take off all skirting, plaster where the fireplace was removed (though I vote for keeping the fireplace!), light fitting as it can be a bit dusty, then lay the floor, new skirting on top, then paint then wallpaper.

You can choose sofa first then design around it, but equally you might choose paint or curtains first – whatever you fall in love with most, make that your starting point. I wouldn’t design around a sofa because I’ve seen so many near-new sofas up for sale on eBay captioned “selling because it doesn’t match our new paint”. Get something neutral or one that can work with multiple rounds of redecoration.

[Littleredbrickmammy]

I second take fireplace out first as that will cause the most mess and damage.

[parietal]

1. fireplace
   
2. floor
   
3. choose fabric things - curtains & sofa & a nice big rug etc
   
4. choose paints & paint walls / skirting whatever needs painting
   
5. furniture & fabrics
   
   (if you really do want a feature wall with wallpaper, do that with 3). But feature walls are a big tacky. Get nice pictures for your walls instead - prints in a frame don't need to be expensive and are both flexible and classy.

[statetrooperstacey]

Fire place , paint ceiling, light, paint walls, flooring last, then you don’t have to worry about drips etc.

[catmg]

Thanks all you have helped massively!

The fireplace holds a quite new electric fire and the house itself is quite a new build so it's unfortunately not like I'm intending to rip out character features.

The wall I want to paper is quite long, I think paper might break it up a bit especially if no fireplace on it. But I'll have a think about artwork instead.

Thanks again!

[summercompanion]

I'm in a similar position to you with refurb - but without removing fireplace.

All I would say is don't be talked out of wallpaper. I think it could give a nice feel- and not as hard as paint.

Perhaps you could find a discreet one and still put artwork on the wall as a feature?

I'm thinking of wallpapering my hallway to give it a nice feeling- but would still use artwork etc no matter whether I use paint or wallpaper.