Posted by Lee on Sep 30, 2014 in Blog, Hand Painted Kitchens Blog

Hand Painted Pine Kitchen, Linton – Blog by Lee Simone

 

First Published on Traditional Painter

For this hand painted kitchen I again travelled to the lovely village of Linton in Yorkshire.

This bespoke pine kitchen had been made and installed by local kitchen company ‘Jeremy Wood‘ nearly 20 years ago. It had originally been finished using a dark stain/varnish and the clients were now looking to update it to make the room feel much lighter and brighter. The room itself doesn’t get a lot of natural light so the dark pine was really dominating the space, making it feel a bit dated and gloomy.

The kitchen itself was in fairly good condition though some remedial work was required before I began painting – as you can see from this picture a new kick board was needed on the right. Quite a few of the doors and drawers also needed tweaking as they had dropped a little and were now rubbing.

 

Before any painting is done it’s really important to ensure that no areas are rubbing and there is a nice equidistant space all the way around the units and drawers. A lot of uneven gaps don’t really show up on wood kitchens, especially such dark ones, and will be more noticeable once painted.

Any areas that are rubbing have to be dealt with,  as over time these areas will wear away and ruin the finish. Tweaking things isn’t a big job and usually involves a little sanding, planing or re-hanging. In this particular instance the work was undertaken by the clients joiner friend prior to me starting.

During the consultation we looked at various colours and after a couple of samples had been done the colour decided upon was The Little Greene Company’s ‘Stock Mid’ , which I had mixed up by Holmans Paints in their equivalent shade.

 

‘Stock Mid’ worked really well as it was warm without being too yellow or pink and blended beautifully with the new work tops the client had just had installed. Before I began the floor had also been sanded back and re-treated, really bringing out all the natural glory of the original parquet flooring.

 

 

 

Preparation – Cleaning, Masking & Sanding

As with all my kitchen projects, the first thing I do is to remove all the handles.

I then thoroughly clean all areas with my favourite citrus based cleaner/degreaser * Krudcutter Original. This really is a fantastic product and has dealt with every aspect of furniture and kitchen cleaning I’ve thrown at it. Sugar Soap is now a thing of the past!

Once cleaned and wiped down with a damp cloth my nxst stage was to mask off the floors, worktops, walls and various and other areas with 1200 lining paper and the wonderful Edge Lock 2080EL tape by 3M (Reviews on the 3M site).

3M’s Edge Lock tape is the best tape I have found and works especially well on wooden floors, never leaving any damage and creating a razor sharp edge. Many tapes work well on most surfaces but can damage or discolour wood if left on for long periods of time.

 

I use 1200 lining paper, as it allows me to easily keep on top of hoovering up any dust. It is also thick enough so there is no danger of any paint getting on any parts of the floor, walls or worktops – it takes a little extra time to do this stage but for me and the overall finish it’s a win win!

At this stage I also removed the draw fronts so they would be easier to paint. There weren’t that many drawers so I didn’t need to use my full * Erecta Rack, only a couple of the runs.

That’s the beauty of the * Erecta Rack, not only is it lightweight and easy to set up but also incredibly flexible in it’s usage. For some jobs I use all 10 levels, for some only one or two.

If you would like to learn more about this fantastic bit of kit, please take a look at my Erecta Rack Blog.

 

Sanding –

One of the most important stages of any hand painted kitchen project is the sanding. It’s really important to thoroughly sand every  inch of any kitchen l so a suitable key is achieved and the paint can adhere properly.

Great care should be taken with this stage and no corners cut to ‘save time’. For this particular project I used a combination of my Festool RTS 400 Q-Plus GB 240V Orbital Sander (which allows for virtually dust free sanding), and my latest sanding discovery – Mirka Golf Flex.

 

 

For me the Mirka Gold Flex is now the future of sand paper.

It comes in a big roll with individual sheets that break away cleanly and seem to go on far longer than conventional sandpaper. It’s also flexible and comfortable to use  – one side has a foam backing – and really represents great value for money.

 

 

Spot Priming –

Once the units had been sanded and the dust hoovered up I went over everything with a tack cloth to remove any remnants of dust or bits. When it comes to tack cloths I have used many different ones and would recommend Axus Pro Finish Tack Cloths – available from MyPaintbrush.co.uk.

Once ‘tack clothed’ it was time to spot prime the knots with Zinnser B-I -N . On a kitchen of this age this really is only a precautionary measure as the wood is well seasoned and it’s massively unlikely that there would be any sap seepage from the knots. That said if there was any sap still around and it wasn’t treated then in a six months or a year it could start to come through and the finish would eventually be ruined. A big price to pay for ignoring a stage that took less than an hour!

 

Priming –

Once the initial prep stages were completed it was time to get my brush and rollers out and prime! As the kitchen was pine I used my favorite primer Otex by Tikkurila. I ordered this from Holmans Paints and had it tinted by them to the equivalent of LG’s ‘Stock -Mid’.

To apply the Otex I used a combination of 2 types of mini roller and a couple of brushes. For the rollers I used Dulux’s high density foam roller and the wonderful Fox Velvet Flock.

For the brushes I used a half inch Teklon Super Grip by Boldmere and a Picasso 1.5″ Straight Cut Standard Handle Paint Brush

Once primed there were a lot of gaps and holes that needed filling! The gaps around the beading needed special attention as they were very uneven and would ruin the finish if not caulked with care and attention. I didn’t want to ruin the shape of the design so caulked these gaps (using Dulux Decorators Caulk) making sure to shape the caulk with my finger to make it perfectly smooth and slightly inset from the edge of the beading. Other holes and dints I filled with Fat Hogs Fine Surface Filler (available from Leyland).

 

 

As you can see from this picture, by the time the caulking and filling had been done and a second coat of Otex applied the doors were really coming along nicely.

The shape and detailing around the beading hadn’t been lost and it looked like there had never been a gap 🙂

Another light sand with some well worn 120 grit pads and it was top coat time.

 

Top Coats – 

To create the perfect silky smooth brush mark free finish I pride myself on (as do all those at Traditional Painter) I applied 2-3 coats of Empire by Tikkurilla. I had this tinted to an equivalent shade of LG’s ‘Stock Mid’ by Holmans Paints and as always the service was impeccable.

I applied the top coats using the same combination of rollers and brushes I used for applying the Otex primer  (see above).

 

The Final Stage –

After removing the tape and tidying up the kitchen I added the new handles and the transformation was complete. These handles were sourced and bought by my client and I have to say are some of the nicest handles I’ve ever seen, a perfect combination of rustic and elegant, lovely!

 

 

 

The clients were seriously happy with the transformation and the work that had gone into everything I did. They kindly send this email and testimonial which was greatly appreciated 🙂

If you’d like to see the main Project Page for this hand painted kitchen project please click here

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more Blogs and case studies for Hand Painted Kitchens.