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Hand Painted Kitchen In St Helens

Jason Walker of JS Decor is a specialist kitchen painter in Lancashire and member of the HPKUK network. Here is an insight into the refurbishment of a hand painted kitchen in St Helens.

When this enquiry came in for a hand painted kitchen in St Helens, I was working on a kitchen in Parbold. It was fairly close by. On seeing the oak kitchen, it was very well made! Built by the client’s late husband and was far too good to rip out and replace. It had been extended to include the same units in the utility. As you can imagine there were a lot of doors – 37 in total.

Is hand painting an oak kitchen a good idea?

It was a beautiful oak kitchen, but the problem was, the kitchen looked a little dark, what with the ceiling being panelled as well. It was just too much wood. Talking through the options, Sylvia was a little unsure as it was a big decision for her, so I sent the quote through and left it with left her. A few days later she told me she was still unsure, so I offered to take her to see the kitchen we were working on in Parbold.

When Sylvia saw what we had done, those thoughts of Will I won’t I faded, so the job was booked in, and she had new worktops and floor fitted by my fitter, Geoff Gornall, also a new boiler by my plumber, Geoff Richmond. All that refurbishment work would be done before I got there.

Kitchen painting underway

When I started, there was a lot to do before paint was applied, so I talked through colours with Sylvia. The colour we chose was a lighter shade of the tiles. The first 2 days were spent laying Packexe floor protection, cleaning down and prepping all surfaces for the paint. Krud Kutter Original and plenty of sanding, left the woodwork ready for priming. We also repositioned the handles for a more modern look.

As for the paint, we used Tikkurila Otex primer tinted to the colour of the topcoats – 2 coats of Furniture Feelings paint.

When we started to apply the primer, Sylvia was at work, so when she returned we had coated up quite a lot of units. Her smile confirmed to me that she was happy with the colour and the transformation was underway. Even after priming alone, it was beginning to look like a completely new kitchen.

With the top coats done and dusted, and the handles fitted, it was unrecognisable.

hand painted kitchen ST Helens

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I would like to thank Sylvia for making us welcome, and also Buster the dog – good boy!!

Less natural wood is more

As mentioned in the introduction, when Jason started, the whole kitchen and utility struck you as “This is definitely a wooden kitchen – units, ceiling doors, frames, everything except the walls was natural timber…” The plan had been to paint the ceiling panelling, to lighten it all up. After the paintwork to the units was completed, the ceiling was no longer a focal point. The paint really did set off the natural wood worktops and flooring too.

Recommended Materials

Jason will only work with the best and most reliable materials and the combination of cleaners, abrasives, primers, paints and brushes. The decorating products we recommend may not be mainstream in the UK. Between myself or my colleagues at HPKUK, we have extensively tried, tested and we trust them.

Tikkurila paints were supplied by Holman Specialist Paints. Krud Kutter Original Was from MyPaintBrush online store. We used Corona Kingston brushes. We work hard to find and prove the hidden gems. Some of the products in these product ranges, are the “secret” to the most successful specialist paint finishing.

Specialist painter and decorator, Jason Walker, is a member of the  HPKUK network. He is the first port of call for hand painted kitchens from South Lakes, Preston to South Cheshire. Jason has been hand-painting kitchens for 18 years. Trading as JS Decor and also writes regular tips for the Lancashire Magazine.

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