Hand Painted Kitchens and Furniture in London and Essex
Kitchen Painters in Essex
Based here in Essex we cover all of London and the Home Counties for specialist hand painted kitchens and bespoke furniture painting. Hand painting kitchen cabinets requires patience, technique and experience in order to achieve only the very highest quality finish that is also durable enough to withstand the everyday knocks and scrapes of being at the centre of the family home.
We have hand painted many kitchens in London and in Essex, refurbishing tired existing kitchen units and hand painting bespoke new kitchens, and we have tried and tested methods for the different circumstances that each project presents. There are a few things to consider when tackling a hand painted kitchen, or planning a high quality furniture painting project.
Hand painted kitchen
Planning:
We can work with you to plan your dream hand painted kitchen colour scheme. Designer paint manufacturers like Little Greene and Farrow & Ball have absolutely fantastic colours in their ranges, but colour can be confusing. We can help! Just an idea of what it is that you are trying to achieve, and a preference of palette is enough for us to put together some ideas for you. Please ask for more details.
Furniture Painters in Essex
Protection:
When undertaking high quality kitchen cabinet painting or hand painted furniture, it is a basic requirement expected of all kitchen painters to protect surfaces such as floors and worktops as well as masking adjacent surfaces. For us, dust sheets are a big no no! As the name suggests, cotton twill sheets and the like tend to collect dust and when they are disturbed the dust becomes airborne and can become trapped between the paint film leaving a gritty finish…. and nobody wants that! We prefer to use a combination of self-adhesive films, cardboard, lining paper and plastic sheeting which makes dust a lot more manageable for us and leaves you with a super smooth finish on your hand painted kitchen. We have also extensively tested and trialled various types of masking tapes from all over the world. It is important that the tape does not allow any ‘bleed’ where paint creeps under the edges of the masking tape, using the best available masking tape means razor sharp lines, which is exactly what we want to achieve for our customers.
Floor protection required when hand painting kitchen units
Preparation:
This is the big one! Correct preparation of kitchen units will not only provide a high quality finish on your hand painted kitchen, but will also see it in good stead for many years of daily use. Painting over grease for example, will cause the paint to fail prematurely and your beautifully painted kitchen will soon look tired. Without extensive preparation, including cleaning, degreasing and thorough abrasion, the end result would be substandard. Preparation doesn’t stop at the beginning of a kitchen painting project though, it is also essential that every coat of paint is sanded smooth. This sanding creates a dust that needs to be removed by vacuum and finally with a tack cloth. Ensuring to collect every grain of dust from every nook and cranny is vital to achieve the finish that your kitchen deserves.
Kitchen painting preparation
Primer:
With so many high quality adhesion primers available from USA and Europe, and new advanced primers coming onto the market all the time, we are now spoilt for choice in the kitchen painting industry. Melamine kitchen units can be successfully painted, as well as bare and previously painted MDF and hardwood; with the correct choice of primer you can expect the finest possible results on even the trickiest of surfaces. We will work with you to build a custom made specification that is tailored for your hand painted kitchen project. Check our blog for reviews of different primers fit for various purposes.
Kitchen unit primers
Paint:
Well, this is the bit that you are going to look at every day, so it’s important that we get it right! We want to use the paint that will give you your perfect feel and sheen level for your hand painted kitchen, we are more than happy to provide highly durable low VOC or even Eco-friendly alternatives as well as traditional oil based finishes. With so many options available to the modern furniture and kitchen painting specialist, it would be impossible to discuss them all here, but you can rest assured that we will be able to work with you to find the perfect paint finish for your kitchen or furniture; during the consultation for your project we will be able to gather a few options that would be suitable and then we can take it from there. You are in safe hands!
Kitchen cupboards hand painted to a super smooth finish
Tools:
We are constantly in pursuit of the next best brush or mini roller for achieving high quality hand painted furniture and kitchens, new tools available to us in the kitchen painting industry allow us to provide an exceptional finish in less time than ever. These new brushes and rollers all have their own benefits, which become an advantage when using certain paint types or for different projects. This is an ever extending list, with many variables; stay updated with our verdict on the best equipment for the job at hand by subscribing to our blog.
It pays to use a quality brush, this particular one is fantastic in oil based finishes. It is the Morro made by Corona.
Timescale:
Ok, so if you have read this far, then it is almost certain that you are planning a hand painted kitchen project. But one thing that I bet is nagging at the back of your mind is that your kitchen, the hub of your home, is going to be out of action while the work is carried out. Well that is true, for the most part at least, but what we can guarantee here at HarriDec is that your project will be completed in the shortest possible timescale. We will create a program and sequence the works in such a way that we make the most of each day on the project which means you could have your kitchen painted and back in action in much less time than you had thought!
Quality hand painted furniture
Thanks for taking the time to take a look at our hand painted kitchens and furniture page. If you have a bespoke painting project in London or in Essex and think that we are the furniture and kitchen painting specialists for you then we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch by filling out the contact form!