Painting Existing Kitchens
You have a well-made wooden kitchen, perhaps oak, pine or another quality timber, which was fitted 15 or 20 years ago and cost a considerable amount at the time.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. You still like the layout, the cabinetry is solid and well constructed, and there is no real reason to replace it.
It is simply beginning to look tired.Perhaps your kitchen was painted from new, or maybe it still has its original natural timber finish protected with lacquer. Either way, years of everyday use will eventually begin to show. Handles become worn, edges pick up knocks and marks, and some natural timbers can take on the familiar orange or yellow tone that makes an otherwise good kitchen feel dated.
This is exactly where a professional hand-painted kitchen refurbishment can make such a difference.
Sound Familiar?
Many of the enquiries I receive begin with a description something like this:
“We have around 20 doors, nine drawers, an integrated fridge freezer, two glazed display cabinets and a freestanding dresser. The kitchen itself is still very good, but it just looks tired and dated.”
The worktops may still be in excellent condition, while perhaps the old ceramic sink has seen better days. Wooden knobs and handles may be worn or tarnished and could easily be replaced with something more contemporary to complement the new hand-painted finish.
Options and Choices
One of the biggest advantages of refurbishing an existing kitchen is that you do not have to replace everything.
If your existing worktops are in good condition, they may be perfectly suitable to retain. Wooden worktops can often be sanded back and refinished using a suitable lacquer or oil system, restoring their appearance and giving them a new lease of life.
Where sanding is required, I use professional dust-controlled sanding equipment connected to extraction, helping to keep dust and disruption to a minimum.
Splashbacks can also be updated. Traditional tiles can be replaced with more contemporary designs, coloured glass, antique-effect glass or other finishes that work with the new kitchen colour scheme.
Flooring is another option, although this can sometimes be more involved where existing cabinetry has been installed over tiled floors.
Freestanding dressers, wooden chairs and other furniture can be painted or refinished in complementary colours, helping the whole room feel considered rather than simply having newly painted cupboards.
Paint and Colours
Modern water-borne specialist coatings can now provide excellent durability and a hard-wearing finish without the strong smells traditionally associated with solvent-based paints.
They dry relatively quickly, have much lower odour and cause less disruption, which can be particularly helpful in homes with children or pets.
Colour choice is another major benefit.
The specialist paint systems I use can be colour matched to many popular designer, heritage and contemporary colour palettes, so you are not restricted to one manufacturer’s colour chart.
Rather than relying on a small printed colour chip, I prefer larger painted sample boards. These can be moved around the kitchen so you can see how each colour behaves in different areas and at different times of the day.
Natural daylight, artificial lighting, flooring, worktops and surrounding wall colours can all influence how a paint colour appears, so taking a little time at this stage can make a considerable difference to the final result.
Finishing Touches
New handles and knobs can completely change the character of a kitchen.
I can provide access to a wide choice of cabinet hardware through my recommended specialist ironmongery supplier.
You are, of course, equally welcome to source your own hardware or retain the existing handles if you prefer.
Where new handles require different fixing positions, the original holes can be professionally filled using a high-strength two-part filler. The new positions can then be carefully templated and drilled before the new hardware is fitted.
This gives you far more freedom when choosing replacement handles, knobs or cup pulls.
Once the freshly painted doors and drawers have been refitted, I carry out final adjustments to make sure everything is aligned correctly and operating as it should.
If your existing cabinetry is well made and the layout still works for you, replacing the entire kitchen may simply be unnecessary.
A professional hand-painted kitchen refurbishment can completely transform the room while allowing you to retain the quality cabinetry you already own.
It is usually far less disruptive than a complete replacement and gives you the opportunity to update the colour, hardware and surrounding finishes while preserving the craftsmanship and character of the original kitchen.
For many homeowners, the finished result feels like a completely new kitchen — without the upheaval of starting again from scratch.
