We were contacted towards the end of 2023 by a client in the beautiful village of Willoughby Waterleys in Leicestershire to repaint their charming oak kitchen. The kitchen was installed 18 years ago by a local manufacturer  but was beginning to look tired and dated. The client also wanted to move away from the natural wood look in their home and give the kitchen a hand painted finish in a neutral colour.

After an initial site visit and upon acceptance of the quote we provided the client with our colour fan decks for them to choose a few colours, we then painted larger sample boards and got these out in the post to them. The final colour chosen was Benjamin Moore 'Pale Oak' which is quite a popular colour at the moment.

This kitchen was not as straight forward as it looks to prep and paint. There were lots of little tiny holes in the wood that needed filling which took a long time to fill and sand down. The process to hand paint a bare oak kitchen like this one is as follows:

1. We number and remove all the doors and drawers fronts along with their hardware.
2. We then mask up the edges of the kitchen and cover the flooring with protection.
3. Everything is then caulked and filled including any holes and joins in the wood.
4. Two coats of primer is then applied frame with sanding in-between to give a nice flat surface to apply the top coats to.
5. The doors are then taken back to the workshop to be primed and sanded too.
6. The following day a single coat is applied to the frame and the doors.
7. The next day a second coat is applied after we've given everything a light sand.
8. We allow everything to dry before returning on the final day to unmask the frame and to reassemble the kitchen. All the doors are re-hung and the hardware installed.

Once all the doors and drawers were reinstalled the kitchen looked brand new again. The colour chosen by the client really suited their quaint cottage beautifully  and they were delighted with the outcome leaving us a wonderful review too!

At Revival, we're passionate about enhancing the finish of handcrafted kitchens with our hand finished paintwork. We take pride in bringing our clients vision to life. If you're interested in adding a similar touch of elegance to your kitchen cabinets, don't hesitate to reach out to us to discuss your kitchen project.