Interior painting and decorating
We paint and decorate period and premium homes across Essex and London, from Epping through to West London. Whole houses, single rooms, exterior facades, hand-painted panelling, wallpaper and the plaster repair that comes before any of it. We survey first, specify the preparation and paint system in writing, and fix the price before we start. The finish reads as one hand from the front door to the top landing.
What is included
- A survey of every surface, with the preparation each one needs written into the specification
- Plaster repair, filling, lining and sanding before any paint goes on
- Walls, ceilings, woodwork, panelling, doors, windows, radiators and staircases, in the paint system the specification names
- Wallpaper and feature papers, cross-lined as standard, hung to a prepared and sized wall with every joint butted
- Protection of floors, joinery, furniture and everything we are not painting
- A weekly written progress report with photographs for every client
- A six-month visit on projects over £15,000, offered as a priced option below it, and a two-year workmanship guarantee
What is not included
- Structural work, electrics, plumbing and joinery manufacture, which sit under a renovation contract rather than a decorating price
- Removal of old wall coverings where the substrate cannot be seen at survey, which is priced as a named provisional sum
- Furniture removal and storage. We move furniture to the centre of each room, sheet it and reinstate it when that room is finished, and we ask you to clear small items and valuables first
- The materials themselves where you supply the paint or your designer specifies it. Our workmanship guarantee still covers our labour and our application, and the paint carries the manufacturer's own warranty
Typical projects
- A whole house after a refurbishment, decorated behind the other trades room by room, panelling and feature papers in one specification, as at a family house in Cuffley
- A single room, or a hallway and stair in a period house, where the panelling and the cornice need the preparation the rest of the house had 20 years ago. We take on single rooms that need remedial work as well; for example, remediating mould behind built-in wardrobes by applying a fungicidal treatment, re-boarding, skimming and decorating.
- A refitted office floor or a block of flats for a main contractor, one specification across every area, as at Sackville Street and for managing agents
Which paint do you use?
Tikkurila as standard. On premium work we specify Farrow & Ball, Mylands and Paint & Paper Library where the colour or the finish calls for it. The specification names the product, the sheen and the number of coats for every surface before you agree a price, so what goes on the wall is what you approved.
How long does a room take?
Longer than the painting. Most of the time in a room is preparation and the drying between coats, not the coats themselves. We publish no typical figure, because a room in sound condition and a room back to bare plaster are different jobs. You get a programme by room at survey, and the specification tells you which rooms are out of use and for how long.
Can we live in the house while you work?
Yes, and most of our clients do. We work room by room and seal the doorways, and we agree the working hours with you before we start. You keep a kitchen, a bathroom and somewhere comfortable to sit throughout. We leave every room safe and tidy at the end of the day, and we finish and reinstate one room before we open the next.
Do you do wallpaper and specialist finishes?
Yes. Wallpaper and feature papers are part of the decorating specification. We price hand-painted panelling and the spray finishing of kitchens, wardrobes and joinery as their own items, so you can see what each costs. At a family house in Cuffley the feature papers in the cloakroom and two bedrooms were ours, alongside the panelling in every principal room.
Recent projects
At a family house in Cuffley we painted the panelling in every principal room and hung the feature papers in the cloakroom and two bedrooms. The walls and ceilings throughout were ours as well. The photographs run from November 2023 to April 2024. The house reads as one hand from the hall to the top landing.
Sackville Street, Mayfair
Painting and decorating throughout: four office floors, eight flats, lobbies, stairs, basement and terrace, in phases for the main contractor, 2024
Knightsbridge, office floor
Painting throughout one office floor after a strip-out and refit: open plan, WCs and lift lobby, for the main contractor, 2021Indicative cost
2026-09-17-Indicative-Bands-RECOMMENDATION.md
Most rooms fall between £450 and £1,200.
A kitchen or a large open-plan room is usually £1,200 to £2,500.
What moves it: the height of the ceiling, the state of the plaster underneath, whether there is panelling or wallpaper and how much preparation the last decorator left behind.
We survey first and the quotation is a fixed price, with anything we cannot see at survey named as a provisional sum.
Frequently asked questions
Do you give a fixed price?
Yes. Every quotation is a fixed price for the specification it describes. Where we cannot see something at survey, such as what sits under an old wall covering, we price it as a named provisional sum and say so on the quotation.
What happens if something goes wrong after you leave?
Every decorating project carries a two-year workmanship guarantee. Projects over £15,000 include a six-month snag visit. Below that we offer it as a priced option.
How quickly will you reply?
Within one working hour during office hours (7:30 to 17:00, Monday to Friday). Outside those hours, someone from our office will call or email you first thing the next working morning.
Where do you work?
We are based in Epping and work across Essex and London, all the way through to West London. Completed projects include Maida Vale W9, St John's Wood NW8, Westminster SW1, Notting Hill W11 and Holland Park W14.
Tell us about the project.
We reply within one working hour, 7:30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Outside those hours, first thing the next working morning.
Enquiry form
Thank you. Someone from our office will call or email you within the hour if it is a working day, or first thing the next working morning.