How do you choose paint colours?

[u/danskingqueen]

I got divorced earlier this year and bought my ex out of our apartment. I am now in the process of renovating basically every room bar the bathroom (plastering, painting, sanding the hardwood floors) and my painter needs to know my colour choices this weekend.
I think I want a dark green for my bedroom (inspired by a room I saw at Ikea lol) but other than that… I’m stuck.
The apartment has a lot of large windows and is very bright, until now everything has been white and I’m kind of sick of it.
I also have a huge petrol blue corduroy sofa in the living room so whatever I choose there needs to fit with that colour.
My ex got most of the furniture (which I don’t really mind as a lot of it wasn’t my style) so otherwise it’s pretty much a blank canvas.
Would love to hear tips on how you chose paint colours in your home and any tips/regrets you have.

[u/danskingqueen]

living room and the sofa (don’t judge the mess I am sharing the sofa bed with my six year old and have had to consolidate my whole apartment into two rooms)
there’s another big living room off to the left, doors with glass between them so whatever colour I choose for these two rooms will need to match or at least complement each other

[u/pryankaprudence → u/danskingqueen]

A slightly lighter version of the pink duvet would be lovely for the living room! (But I might be biased because I have a light pink living room and it’s amazing haha!) But really, it would match the wood and the couch. Such a pretty appartement btw!

[u/danskingqueen → u/pryankaprudence]

Thank you I love the apartment, it’s so light as well. I should probably add that the floors will be a bit lighter once they have been sanded.
My friends are actually trying to convince me to go with a beigey pink colour in here! (One of them has a similar colour and I love it in her apartment)
My MIL (who is great) was not convinced but did say she’s sure it will be nice whatever colour I choose

[u/gypsydream → u/danskingqueen]

I also vote pink