Painting a beech-effect kitchen forest green, Arclid

What did the customer need?

The customer wanted a modern kitchen without paying for a new one. The units, worktop and appliances all worked fine. The problem was the look: light beech-effect cottage doors, antique brass bow handles and magnolia walls that had dated the whole room. Painting the cabinets kept everything that worked and changed only what needed changing, with no plumbing, no new worktop and no weeks without a usable kitchen. They also wanted the walls, ceiling, door and skirting brought up to date at the same time.

What condition was it in?

The kitchen was sound but tired. The cottage-style doors had vertical tongue-and-groove panels in a light beech-effect finish, with antique brass bow handles on every door and drawer, and the magnolia walls gave the room a yellowish cast under the lights. Nothing was broken. The real question for painting was the door surface: wood-effect finishes are smooth and sealed, so paint has very little to grip without proper preparation.

What preparation was needed?

Thorough preparation, because paint won't stick to a sealed wood-effect surface on its own. This was a Full redecoration rather than a Refresh, because every cabinet surface had to be cleaned, keyed and primed and the whole room was repainted, not just touched up.

Which paints and materials were used?

The cabinets were painted in a hard-wearing deep forest green, including every door, drawer front, end panel, pelmet and cornice, plus the oven housing and tall larder units, over an adhesion primer. I fitted brushed copper D-handles to replace the brass bows. The walls went from magnolia to a soft light grey, the ceiling was painted white, and the six-panel door, frame and skirting were finished in white. The granite-effect worktop, white mosaic tiles, oven and hob stayed as they were.

What was the result?

The kitchen now looks like a modern fitted kitchen, at a fraction of the cost of replacing it. The deep green suits the panelled doors, where the grooves catch light and shadow, and the copper handles warm it up. It makes the granite-effect worktop look deliberate rather than dated and stands out sharply against the white tiles. The soft grey walls keep the room light, so the dark cabinets never feel heavy, and with the walls, ceiling and woodwork done at the same time the whole room was finished in one go.

Questions about this job