Mirka

Mark Roberts, Traditional Painter covering N Wales, used his high tech paint kettle to hot coat a pine kitchen in Caernarfon with Symphony paint. This was really smart use of Mark’s product knowledge to achieve a perfect brushed finish. Whilst working on a kitchen project in Caernarfon I received an enquiry less than 2 miles Read More

A hand painted kitchen St Helens, it started life as a Neville-Johnston limed oak kitchen. From the photos of the kitchen before work commenced, I could see that it was still in good shape after many years of regular use, but it looked a little dated. In addition to painting, there were plans to change Read More

Yorkshire based kitchen and furniture painter, Lee Simone, shares his recommendations for products for preparing kitchen cabinets, based on extensive use. Since becoming a Traditional Painter I have picked up many a handy hint and recommendation for products for preparing kitchen cabinets, (plus priming and painting too), from the great pool of knowledge available from Read More

This is a long indepth article on how to paint pine furniture. It is written by professional furniture painters, and aimed at DIY who want to successfully prepare and paint waxed pine, varnished pine, bare or painted, laminate effect. We have you covered. You will learn about: – The abrasives, cleaners and tools you need Read More

Traditional Painter for Yorkshire, Lee Simone used the “nuclear paint option” on a hand painted kitchen table and chairs in Darrington. 2 coats of Shellac primer and 3 coats of Tikkurila Empire oil matt-satin finish. For this project I travelled to Darrington near Pontefract to transform a kitchen table and four chairs. The client was Read More

Annie Sloan chalk paint is mainly for girls – but boys can use it too! Read a professional Traditional Painter’s practical tips on Annie Sloan chalk paint – How to wax and buff wax. In general terms, you apply chalk paint to any surface with minimal preparation, sand (or not), wax a few times and Read More

They say a good workman never blames their tools, which is fine up to a point. But some tools make us better craftsmen, and leave us with happier clients – one such tool, the Mirka sanding system, is raising interior decorating standards for the benefit of all concerned. Here are a couple of examples of Read More

A quick glimpse of the Mirka DEROS. 2013 is a good year for painters and decorators looking to up their game and take sanding and preparation to the highest level. Main difference between the CEROS and DEROS DEROS has no external transformer, which simplifies the overall set-up considerably, not having to account for the cables Read More

When recommending professional decorating kit for DIY users, my philosophy is quite simple: Good workmen rely on good tools, and DIY decorators actually need the best kit, best paint and best brushes, even moreso than a professional, probably! There, I said it! Keen DIY – if you aren’t the best painter, the last thing you Read More

I was asked to restore this dining table – oak, badly varnished and scuzzy. There was only one approach that made sense. Mirka CEROS, abranet abrasives, vacuum extractor The CEROS has a full complement of extraction holes, and the Abranet with its thousands of holes allows 90% + of any dust to pass straight through Read More