Wendy has some nice painted furniture pieces of her own, but there is a different set of rules for kitchen painting! Whereas on furniture she would use chalk paint with possibly wax as a protective coat, on a busy kitchen it’s better to take advantage of specialist kitchen paints.

Tikkurila’s range will resist chips and abrasions to a much higher degree than wax ever could (and any other hand applied paints we know of too!)

Before Wendy had sent photos of the units. With over 200 kitchens that we have done, I know the specifications and pitfalls, and how long the work takes, so for me pricing and quoting and specifying from photos is not a problem. So most times, we can send you everything you need to know about your kitchen conveniently, straight to your computer, so you can make a decision about how, or whether to proceed or not.

Where there are areas of doubt, though, or further discussions need to be had, obviously we arrange a site visit in person. I went to see Wendy’s kitchen, primarily to double check the construction of the doors over a nice cup of tea, and talk through the colours!

Painting Vinyl wrap kitchen doors

The surface of the doors wasn’t a typical wood, but a chip board covered with a vinyl wrap finish. It can be a tricky surface to paint, but in this case, we went with Otex primer, which has such high adhesion it seems to stick to most substrates, providing the preparation work has been done correctly. As professional kitchen painters we use the right primer every time.

We confirmed the colours too.

Refurbish a kitchen with new worktops and sink

The worktops were being changed. Wendy wanted to check that the new granite  supplied by MG Bespoke Marble & Granite Ltd toned with the cabinets. There was a good chance that the tops would be matched to Strong White by F&B and possibly Little Greene Hicks Blue for the base units.

It was left that the colours would be confirmed a few days prior to starting, which was fine with me, as we had some preparation to be getting on with.

When I turned up to start work, the granite had been fitted and was looking quite brilliant. A new tap had been installed by MG Marble as well.

To work, kitchen painters.

The colours had been confirmed and the Otex and the Furniture Feelings were on order. This was going to be a pretty stunning transformation, and I was looking forward to applying this colour scheme.

We started by washing all the kitchen using Krud Kutter which is a fabulous degreaser. Working the Krud Kutter with a Mirka Mirlon pad, it etches as it cleans.

Once the units were clean and dry I sanded the units again using my mirka dustless sander.

Once sanded, all it needed was a final wipe with meths, and then we could apply the Otex.

Otex flows out flat. It’s self levelling which makes sanding when dry very easy. We applied the water-borne Feelings Furniture paint, 2 coats, in the usual way with the high density roller sleeves.

The kitchen takes shape

Strong White top units

and Hicks blue base units.

It looked fab.

All that was missing was the dressing of the kitchen itself. This was down to Wendy and what a good job too.

Now you would not know it was a Refurbished Kitchen in Stockport.

Things to consider when hiring a kitchen painter

• Do they paint kitchens all the time? (some decorate as well)
• Have they an extensive back catalog of work?
• How long have they been painting kitchens. 20 yrs plus?
• How good are their testimonials?

I’d like to thank Wendy and Larry, who I haven’t mentioned much! He runs and owns The Audioworks in Cheadle.  And a quick word to Poco the dog, who was a pleasure to have around whilst we worked. Good boy!