‘When your sofa and wall colours are in sync, the space feels intentional’ – experts reveal the 4 best paint and sofa colour combinations

Given that the walls and your sofa represent the two largest surfaces of your living room, it’s important to choose the colours with care and consider how the two work together. There are methods to employ when choosing the shades for your walls and your sofa – but I’ve rounded up some of the best paint and sofa colour combinations that interior experts say you can’t go wrong with.

When choosing your best sofa, you’re making quite a big investment so you don’t want to go for a colour that you’ll later regret. And while most living room paint ideas don’t cost all that much, repainting your entire lounge will certainly take up a lot of your time and energy – so make these two choices bearing that in mind and ensure you go for the best colour combinations.

‘When your sofa and wall colours are in sync, the whole space feels more intentional,’ says Kathryn Lloyd, Crown colour specialist.

Without further ado, these are the 4 sofa and paint colour combos that experts are loving.

1. Soft pink walls with a chocolate brown sofa

Admittedly, brown sofas are currently a big sofa colour trend – but it appears it’s one that’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Tash Bradley, director of interior design at Lick and author of Master the Art of Colour, available at Amazon, is a big fan of chocolate brown sofas – especially when paired with blush pink walls.

‘Pink 01 is one of our go-to bestselling colors. I would always colour-drench your living room in Pink 01. And what's lovely with that, by the way, is that tone can go in any room direction, in any style of room – but I love it with a chocolate sofa. There's one from Loaf called Sticky Toffee. Oh my god, it's so nice in velvet!’

She adds, ‘People have always stayed away from brown. But when you get it in coffee, chocolate and the caramels and the brown tones with yellow undertones and red undertones, those are so gorgeous.’

2. Sage green sofa with off-white walls

If you want to stay on the side of caution and prefer not to experiment too much, pairing sage green with a light neutral is both a stylish and timeless combination, as well as a safe one.

‘Warm neutrals with richer tones are always a winner – Gentle Hush works beautifully with a deep green velvet sofa for a timeless, cocooning feel,’ Kathryn at Crown says.

Tash at Lick continues, ‘I have two kinds of clients, either they know exactly what tone they want and they're going for it. Or I have clients that do want to go for a colour, but they're feeling a bit nervous. If you're in that latter camp, green is one of the best sofa colours that you can have. For a more classic scheme, having a sage green sofa, and then a warm neutral on the walls like a white with a yellow undertone, such as White 05, is lovely. That's very classic and timeless. You can zhuzh it up with some new cushions. Don't think that the colour has to stop there. You can bring in some colour in a rug, some lamps, all that.’

3. Green sofa with pink walls

Pink living room ideas are among the most popular at the moment – as are green sofas. And as luck would have it, the two marry together beautifully. Tash at Lick explains that if you ever get tired of the classic off-white and green combo in your living room, you can keep the green sofa and change the walls to a more vibrant pink, referencing Richard E. Grant’s recent home makeover using a bright pink shade called Leather by Little Greene.

‘If you suddenly go, oh my god, amazing, I've got this lovely sage green sofa, I now want to be a bit bolder. Then go for a bright pink. And funnily enough, that Leather pink by Little Greene would look amazing. You can change the environment very quickly, but green is a very good color if you want to dip your toe and it's just going to look good in every home,’ she explains.

4. Blush pink sofa with blue walls

Soft pink doesn’t just look good on living room walls – but also as a sofa colour. And if you want to create an elevated living room colour scheme, a blush pink sofa set against rich blue walls is a winning combination.

‘Subtle yet expressive displays of soft blush sofas inject an informality to both heritage interiors and more contemporary living spaces,’ says Gisela Lancaster, buying manager at Sofology. ‘The colours' innate softness signals calm evenings indoors whilst flattering a range of period styles with a warm glow and pared-back sense of luxury.

'Team with rich blue walls for a regal renaissance that feels both playful and refined. This combination celebrates the sweet spot where history and modernity collide, with simple furniture lines and blush bouclé finishes that provide a restrained counterpoint to the rich walls and bold touches of glamour, from colourful glass chandeliers to marble side tables.’

How to choose your paint and sofa colour pairing

When you’re picking out the two shades, there are some things to consider. Firstly, what kind of look and feel are you going for?

Kathryn at Crown says, ‘Start by deciding on the mood – calm and understated, or bold and uplifting.’

Then make sure the undertones of the two chosen shades work well together. ‘My biggest advice for matching wall colours with your sofa is to match the undertone – whatever the undertone is on your walls, if that is the undertone of your sofa, they'll sit together,’ Tash at Lick says.

Tash at Lick concludes with a final piece of advice, ‘When it comes to walls and sofas, those are two very large blocks of colour. You need to bring in some pattern to break up the blocks of colour. So if you are going for cushions or lamp shades or a rug, bring in a bit of pattern.’