Painting and decorating forum round up

Listed under Blog, Boats, hand-painted kitchen, Mark Nash, Martin Guest, Owatrol Posted Oct 08 2012

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The decorating forum for homeowners, keen DIY and trade is developing a good following. Here are some highlight topics from the past week, to illustrate the diverse range of information you can find and ask about.

High gloss hand painted kitchen

JG Mason Decorator asked for feedback on hand painted gloss kitchen cabinets. Is gloss any good? Fair question, as the traditional kitchen painter approach is to use an eggshell finish.

Sure enough we have 2 kitchen painters onboard Traditional Painter who have painted high gloss finishes within recent living memory: the kitchen showing in the above link from Mark Nash was pink, not sure the colour of Wayne de Wet’s gloss kitchen. Mark spills the beans on the kit he used for painting, plus a great tip for removing dust that has settled on dry paintwork.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, but both kitchens were painted for celebrity clients.

Examples of hand painted kitchens

If you are looking for ideas for colours and styles, the above link will take you to a big collection of kitchens painted by our group of traditional Painters. Also a photo showcase of a painted James Mayor Furniture (JMF) kitchen by Martin Guest, and a semi-celebrity kitchen from Martin Dunn in Staffordshire.

I promise there are no more celebrity references – like London buses, they all seem to have come out the blue just for this week!

Restoring teak decks

With Owatrol coming onboard shortly, I was compiling a list of videos for their landing page, to show off their very cool product line. In amongst them was a really good video from a user, about restoring teak decks using Owatrol cleaners and finishing products. The teak decks were on a boat.

Teak is a remarkable timber, abused by many boat owners and maintenance crews, and I approve this Owatrol related video – apart from the coating at the end which, according to what I learned from the old boat craftsmen still living in the hardy days of tar and pitch, isn’t necessary.

Fine Paints of Europe

The whole decorating trade in the UK will be water-based within a few years, so everyone best get learning from the American pros.

On the other hand, American painters involved in restoration and high end paint finishing have access to European paint – Fine Paints of Europe premium gloss and eggshell paints are mainly from Holland and they are oil based. Most American painters have been starved of oil paint for many years and will be as lost as we are, when presented with the unknown.

Fortunately, we, as traditional painters have developed a pedigree for applying oil paints during all our years of being behind the times. At Traditional Painter, we are only too happy to share that know-how with our American compadres – especially the painters and designers who are linked to Blogging Painters.

(The same offer of tips and tricks goes for Lincrusta restoration, Anaglypta wallcoverings that have a growing following in the USA, even Farrow and Ball…)