For this project the clients had bought a ‘British Standard’ kitchen and had delivered in box form ready to be fitted and tweaked on site by their joiner. They wanted the units to be hand painted in brilliant white and for the finish to be top notch. Alongside the kitchen they also wanted me to paint the main door, the skirting boards (which were new pine) and 2 fitted cabinets that were original features of the house and were set into the walls on the opposite wall.

With other painters unwilling to take on the responsibility of painting the kitchen they got in touch with me. ‘British Standard’ and ‘Plain English’ kitchens are beautifully designed and crafted and are a pleasure to paint, though uncompromising due to their simplicity. There is no margin for error if you want a top quality finish as any perfection stands out a mile away.

After a consultation I emailed my quote and the clients replied saying they’d love me to the job. We arranged a starting date, talked over the finer logistics and I called in a few days before I was scheduled to begin to touch base, arrange keys etc. Then it was painting time!

The Process

I began the project by first masking off the worktops, the appliances, wall edges, floor etc with 1200 lining paper and a mixture of low tack masking tapes. Once masked, I thoroughly cleaned all the units with a specialist cleaner/degreaser, followed by white spirit. Although the kitchen was new and had been boxed up it’s always best to clean even new units thoroughly to remove any chance of any dirt or grease spoiling the finish.

Once cleaned I then lightly sanded every inch of the doors thoroughly to create the perfect key for painting. They had already had a coat of factory primer applied so I used 180 grit sandpaper to avoid scoring the doors in any way.

Priming

The next stage is the all important priming. I used a high adhesion primer from Finland, which is a brilliant product, lovely to use and creates a really good base for my top oats. Once primed I then filled any gaps or holes, gave it a light sand, hoovered again ready for the next stage.

Top Coats

For this project I applied three coats of white thixotropic oil eggshell, lightly sanding between coats. The paint was applied using a mixture of brushes including Purdy Pro-Extra’s, a Wooster Flawless, acrylic artist brushes and a high density foam rollers.

The clients were over the moon with the finish and extremely happy with their new bespoke ‘British Standard’ kitchen. They were still undecided about the handles by the time I’d finished so I kept all the drawers and cupboards slightly ajar using bubble wrap, allowing easy access without the risk of damaging anything.

Lee works as a kitchen painter throughout Yorkshire and is within easy reach for projects in Harrogate, Leeds, York, Doncaster, Halifax, Wakefield, and the surrounding areas.