Most of the wooden kitchens we see, tend to look dated, but they are still very functional. When painting cabinets, the general thinking is to paint everything. Clients often say,

“We want to make the whole kitchen area look lighter.”

Painting all the maple would certainly deliver on that point.

However for this kitchen, on balance, we had decided not to paint all the kitchen units. A little less can often deliver a lot more.

By leaving the glazed cabinets in natural timber, as well as the wine rack and tray storage, the contrast with the painted units would add interest, and the blond tones of the wood would work well with the chosen paint.

It’s all in the preparation of a project

The colours had been chosen well in advance (matched to the wall tiles); Geoff Gornall our cabinet maker had been booked to change out handles, custom fit a new integrated door, and tweak the kitchen installation so it was working as good as new.

To work

The clients were away on holiday for the first few days of this project. We arrived on the start date as agreed, the plan being for Matthew and me to work on the sink area while joinery works were completed on the fridge in another part of the kitchen.

The paint also arrived from Holman’s – great service as ever – and it was colour matched perfectly to a New White.

Geoff Gornall our masterful joiner

The separate fridge-freezer needed changing over to a single fridge, so I had called in Geoff gornall, our very own  cabinet maker, to make a new door to fit a very odd frame. When he had finished, you couldn’t tell it was new, it fitted like a glove. What a skilled chap to have on board.

Geoff has designed, built and installed exquisite bespoke wooden kitchens, and attention to detail is critical. These are 2 examples of previous bespoke wooden kitchen projects from Geoff.

I let Geoff loose on the rest of the kitchen, tweaking any odd-isms. For instance, he secured the dishwasher that hadn’t been fitted overly well, made a template for the new handles and double-checked all hinges and doors to ensure an “as new” feel on a 15 year-old kitchen.

5 days priming

To recap, we started with a wash down of all surfaces, applying my usual cleaner using a Mirka Mirlon pad. I favour these, because of their ability to clean and abrade at the same time.

Once the units were dry, they were sanded again with rubbing blocks and Abranet, purchased via Hallmark Fraulo.

A final dust off, then a wipe down with meths to ensure all grease is removed. We were ready to apply the Otex primer, again supplied by Holman’s. It was a lot of painting for two of us.

More painting

I was able to get the sink area finished, so at least Alan & Linda could return from holiday, with a free run in one part of their kitchen.

When the kitchen was nearing completion, the handles were fitted, and we could see it was going to be a fabulous transformation. When all the painting was finished, we cleaned all the glazed doors and ran silicon around the kick boards. What do you think?

A final vacuum and we moved upstairs to start the bedroom furniture. It had been painted before, but was treated the same way as the kitchen, using Furniture Feelings for the top coats.

I would very much like to thank Alan & Linda for their patience and kindness whilst we were in their home. It was a joy to do, thank you. And highly recommend our cabinet maker for his superb craftsmanship.

Here is  what my clients thought

Why buy a new kitchen when you can have Jason and Matt make your existing one look like new?

Our kitchen was maple wood and after 15 years was not only beginning to look dated but careworn too, we cannot believe the amazing transformation.

Thank you so much to Jason and Matt for their enthusiasm, promptness, tidiness and excellent craftsmanship not to mention their good sense of humour.