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Before you buy

Renovate a room one step at a time

A room does not have to be renovated in one go. What to change first, which step can wait, and how to buy each piece so it still works at the next step.

A room does not have to be renovated in one go. Most of a renovation can be done step by step, from whatever the budget allows this month. What matters is the order: each step has to work with what stays for now and with the step that comes after it.

In what order

  1. The bed
    The narrow old bed gave way to a wide upholstered one with a tall headboard, and the dark bedside table to a light oak one. The bed is used every night, so it went first and set the colours for every later step. The carpet on the wall, the polished wardrobe and the old floor stayed.
    A small bedroom with a wide grey upholstered bed and white bedding, an oak bedside table with a lamp, a patterned carpet on the wall above the bed and a polished brown wardrobe with a mirror by the window.
  2. The wardrobe
    The bulky polished wardrobe with the mirror was replaced by a matte white built-in one from floor to ceiling. With the bed in place after step one, it was clear how much of the wall the wardrobe could take. Nothing else changed at this step.
    The same bedroom with a matte white floor-to-ceiling wardrobe in place of the polished brown one; the grey bed and the carpet on the wall are unchanged.
  3. The walls
    The carpet came off the wall, and the old wallpaper gave way to muted sage-green paint with a white skirting board. The colour was picked against the grey bed and the white wardrobe from the first two steps.
    The same bedroom with the carpet taken off the wall and the walls painted muted sage green, next to the white wardrobe and the grey bed.
  4. Curtains, rug and light
    Linen curtains replaced the yellowed net and tulle, a large cream rug replaced the worn runner by the bed, and a warm lamp went on the bedside table. The cheapest step, and the one that ties the first three steps together.
    The same bedroom with off-white linen curtains on a black rod, a large soft cream rug along the bed and a lit lamp with a pleated shade on the oak bedside table.
  5. Later: the floorThe most expensive step and the only one that empties the room. Until then, the large rug covers the worst of the old floor.

Start with what you use every day

The sofa, the bed, the curtains and the lamps change how a room feels the week they arrive, and none of them need builders. The walls and the floor can wait for a later step: paint goes on around furniture you already own, and a large rug covers a tired floor until it is replaced.

Buy for the room you are heading to

Each new piece will outlive the current walls. Choose colours that sit calmly next to the old wallpaper and next to the paint you have in mind, and measure for the final layout, not for the corner where the old wardrobe stood.

Keep the plan in one place

Write down each step and its order, with the wall lengths and the gaps you measured. When you shop for the next step, the numbers are already on your phone.

Before you buy

  • The colour sits calmly next to the current walls and the paint planned for a later step
  • Measured for the final layout, not for the spot of the old piece
  • Goes with the pieces that stay, not only with the next ones on the list
  • In a rental: comes with you when you move out

Questions

Should I paint before buying furniture?
If painting is a year away, no. There are thousands of paint colours and far fewer beds and wardrobes, so it is easier to match the paint to the furniture than the other way round. When that step comes, the furniture moves to the middle under a cover.
Is renovation cheaper in one go?
For builders’ work, often yes: plastering, floors and wiring cost less when the room is emptied once. Furniture, textiles and lamps cost the same bought together or a year apart, so they are the steps to spread out.
What if I move out in a year or two?
Make the first steps the ones that come with you: the sofa, the rug, the curtains, the lamps. Anything fixed to the walls or the floor stays behind.