The Gentleman Decorator of Southwell

That’s a wrap! Well, not wrapped but painted with Zinsser Satin Allcoat in Slate Grey, I also painted the gable over the front door for this customer. I’m offline for a few days break now but will be back next week. Here’s a reminder that if you need exterior work doing over this summer please give me a shout: I’ve still some availability in June and August.

I utterly adore it when I get to see my customers finished projects! So often I don’t get to see the finished article when I finish decorating because other elements need completing after I finish, so when my recent customers Sue and Tony sent these pictures to me it made my day! This is what makes decorating so rewarding!

Claypole kitchen revisited: I love going back to previous jobs to see the spaces I have decorated when my customers are using the rooms again. What’s hugely interesting in this case is the way colour interacts and appears to change when juxtaposed to other colours and finishes. Look at these photos: all paint on the walls is Tikkurila Optiva 5. The red is matched to Farrow and Ball’s Rectory Red. The other colour on the walls is Pavilion Grey…. And only pavilion grey. On all of the kitchen walls and both above and below the red highlight. I always say to my customers that paint will look very different on adjacent walls depending on shade and light, and in this case also when it interacts with other colours. I often talk about the ‘transformative effects of colour’ and I think in this case an example of literal transformative effect is self evident!

Marathon Hall, Stairs and Landing - what made this job a marathon was the variety of surfaces and the products used: Tikkurila Antireflex2 on the ceilings, Farrow and Ball Modern Emulsion in Joa’s White No. 226 for teh walls. Combination of Tikkurila Otex and Miranol on the woodwork, including the built in office space and shelving: this combo is my go to for high gloss woodwork as it’s incredibly hard wearing and about as glossy as gloss can get! The banister woodwork is all finished in Dulux Polyurethane Gloss Varnish.

Exterior Painting: Whether it's routine maintenance or a new look, now is the time to get organised for exterior painting projects for this summer. I keep my exterior painting season purposely small in order to maximise the opportunity for ideal conditions and achieve a lasting and flawless finish. I still have some availability for exterior painting projects this coming summer. Why not get in touch to discuss your requirements?

Beautiful green living room - not the best photos - I promise to post better ones at a later date, but here’s the latest room on the current project - all paint Tikkurila, the walls are colour matched to Little Greene Sage. The rooms are really coming together on this project now

Getting it just right for customers: This one has been a very involved job. The last photo is the before….. the banister and stairs woodwork was all sprayed with my Wagner unit, caparol haft primer and@then Helmi 10….. but my lovely customers weren’t sure about the Matt finish…. Now I want my customers to utterly adore the finished product so I repainted it all by hand with Tikkurila Everal 40 to give it a soft finish….. and after that brief sojourn we didn’t look back! The woodwork is all Everal 40, matched to Farrow and Ball Wimborne White, the ceiling is finished in my ‘go to’ ceiling paint, Tikkurila’s exceptional Antireflex2 and the walls are Tikkurila’s Optiva 5 matched to F&B Oval Room Blue…. And everyone is utterly over the moon! Happy customers = Happy Gentleman Decorator! Now, on to the living room……

Bathroom completed for Carole: following on from the beautiful living room I wallpapered for Carole I have just completed decorating her bathroom. Walls had some peeling paint issues where the last decorator had not sealed the new plaster - luckily the paint did not all come off so I sealed with Zinder Peel Stop before filling and repairing. a quick sand down with the Mirka and I was good@to go: Ceiling Tikkurila AR2, woodwork Tikkurila Otex and Miranol high gloss. Walls Farrow and Ball Modern Emulsion in ‘Sulking Room Pink No. 295’.

First job of 2024 completed! For Carole in Southwell: she is one of my oldest and most wonderful customers, this is the third time I’ve decorated her living room: this time she is certain it’s perfect! I’ve really enjoyed this job: ceiling is Sanderson paint, which was matched by John Lewis home design service as part of the overall colour scheme, the wallpaper is likewise Sanderson. Woodwork is completed in Tikkurila’s amazing Miranol high gloss. There’s a whole host of other products at work here including Wallrock lining paper and heat resistant Matt black spray paint in the hearth. Here’s to a fantastic 2024!

Last job of the year…..

Last room completed for Carole - Tikkurila vinyl Matt, colour was read by my Tikkurila colour reader: a brilliant piece of kit for getting the exact shade required…. Ceiling Antireflex2.

The final room for Norma and Phil in their home in Southwell - That’s the whole house done. While all white might look totally easy, it was achieved by taking everything back to a solid substrate and hanging lining paper as part of the prep - and as I always say, it’s like Ernie Wise’s haircut: you can’t see the joins! All paint Tikkurila: Vinyl Matt walls and ceiling, Everal 10 on the woodwork. Zinsser Bullseye primer over the old oil based trim paint. Erfurt Mav 1200 lining paper

Bathroom done! This is the finished article for the room I had all the peeling paint issues in - Tikkurila AR2 on the ceiling and optiva 5 on the walls, matched to Farrow and Ball Cooks Blue. I primed the walls with Optima Primer first. I adore working on old properties but there are always variables and compromises. In this case the plastering that was done when the property was renovated 20 years ago was gypsum, so in this room the Optiva 5 is appropriate. The other couple of interesting points of compromise for me were the ceiling - this is a very old house and the ceiling was in no way flat - I thought I was going mad when I was repairing the settling cracks and sanding! And the windows - I was very happy with my internal finish, but externally they were quite rough, so it has a knock on to the internal appearance. Over all, this was a bit of a labour of love and I’m happy with the finish!

The Gentleman Decorator in print! In this month’s Bramley Newspaper. I’m taking bookings for early 2024 so please get in touch if you would like me to help with any projects you are planning.

Since July I have done some cracking jobs, but the good old Instagram/Facebook/Meta cartel have fiddled about with their platforms and now no matter what I do I cannot get Instagram to talk to Facebook - and I post all my photos to Instagram (usually) safe in the knowledge that they post straight across from on platform to the other....

Anyway, rant over!

I'm still here and I'm still delivering high quality finishes for my customers in and around Southwell.

Here's a small selection of work from the past few months..... most new, some old yet revisited jobs.

The gentleman decorator in print!

A really busy few weeks - here’s a selection of photos of a@number of rooms I recently completed in Kirklington

A small project with loads of elements - deceptive but great to end the year with something bold and a bit different!

Cross lining! This photo tells you a lot: firstly that cross lining is the way to go with a wall that looks like this. It also shows you why I’ve been quiet of late: two full houses back to back for a couple of my wonderful customers in Farnsfield and Rainworth. And lastly, my assertion that there is only one World Cup worth following this year!

This has been quite a long job: loads of prep, colour changes (grey to blue and on occasions, white) and loads of cutting in. Add into that a pretty radical summer of weather (too hot for the paint, too wet for the paint, but not necessarily the decorator!) and it’s been a marathon that is not quite finished. But it’s all about the finish. in Mylands Boathouse and in white, both in a satin finish.

Keeping on chipping away at this job - really is fun to be using a slightly unusual colour for the doors

It’s not always about the spectacular! A little spare bedroom job - perfect for shower dodging, always good to have jobs like this in the background to fill those rainy days. Back outside tomorrow…. Cross lining and optiva 5, anti reflex and Everal 10 on the trim.

Prepped and off we go

Front, French, bi-fold door project for Alison and family: inside and out (front door still a little wet in this picture). Painted in Zinsser All-coat satin in RAL7016 anthracite to match the rest of their newly fitted windows: a high performing finish matched to the rest of the windows and a fraction of the cost of replacing the lot!

Shop front finished for Carolyn today! satin all the way….

Great kitchen/diner, utility and shower room job completed today: loads of prep work with the on the newly skimmed ceiling (and a good mist coat to boot!) And was then finished with fabulous Antireflex2. Trim and woodwork in Tikkurila’s Everal primer and 10. The emulsion was Graham and Brown in “Dorian Grey”. I’d not used this paint before and a flawless finish was easy to achieve. Onwards!