Painted Lady

Painted Lady Cosmetic surgery for tired, dated kitchens. Spray painting, bespoke cabinetry, joinery and tiling.

A huge amount of work, but we’ve finally finished painting the Mark Wilkinson kitchen in Wanborough. Now to make nine, n...
03/12/2025

A huge amount of work, but we’ve finally finished painting the Mark Wilkinson kitchen in Wanborough.

Now to make nine, new, replicated doors, some skirting and possibly the missing bits of decorative cornice before Christmas.

I love this kitchen.

We knew the people who built the house originally. It was lovely before, but now the ground floor has been extended and reconfigured and the kitchen is on the way to being completely refurbished, it really is becoming a stunning space.

So much has changed, we’ve added much more storage by increasing the size of the island, building a huge fridge surround, adding useful details like a pull out integrated bin and finally new cupboards which now fully utilise the awkward spaces either side of the AGA.

Hand made kitchens last a lifetime with a little bit of love., this one has had it in spades.

all ready for new handmade, shaker doors, which we’ll start later next week. It’s turned out just as I hoped.
03/12/2025

all ready for new handmade, shaker doors, which we’ll start later next week.

It’s turned out just as I hoped.

Much building and painting.A new cabinet has been built to hide the boiler in the The decorative side panel is slightl...
28/11/2025

Much building and painting.

A new cabinet has been built to hide the boiler in the

The decorative side panel is slightly longer and made purposefully to hide all of the pipe work and a socket beneath it, sheilding all of the ugly bits from view but also allowing the soon to be fitted door to open over the tap.

A chunky, decorative shelf now also sits above the bench seat.

Lots done, just the new shaker doors to make, paint and fit now.

We’ve also ‘grown’ a cabinet in the kitchen, that will have longer, replicated doors, very useful to ‘hideaway’ the toaster and some other bits and pieces.

Originally a wall unit, the sides and frame have been extended down to the worktop using replicated and repurposed framing. A little more work to do making the additions look seamless.

Nearly there…

Getting there…So much sanding and filling to get to this point, but thorough preparation is the only way with lovely vin...
25/11/2025

Getting there…

So much sanding and filling to get to this point, but thorough preparation is the only way with lovely vintage furniture.

None of this ‘historic marks remain’ malarkey, lots of effort, soft lines and good painting are the way forward.

Next, painting a bit more internally now the new backs are fitted, adding some wallpaper and fitting adjustable saw tooth brackets and cleats for the shelving.

Then it’s just the huge cornice and two curved doors, which need lots more effort. I’m not thinking too hard about those yet…

😳

Lots of progress. Another long slim cabinet built, adding storage to an awkward recess to the side of a chimney. We’ll a...
21/11/2025

Lots of progress.

Another long slim cabinet built, adding storage to an awkward recess to the side of a chimney. We’ll add framing to the front of the cabinet, a replicated door and match the cornice to the other wall cabinets.

There has been so much preparation before priming, a lot of paint layers sanded smooth and dents already filled. Dents are the only downside of a softwood kitchen.

It’s turned a corner though, the cabinets are looking much more contemporary in Ammonite, especially with the new Monmouth cup pulls and k***s in nickel from The Handle Studio Ltd

We will also replace all of the cabinet hinges with new nickel versions.

One more cabinet to build in the kitchen next week, along with a lot of fiddly joinery details which will bring both the old and new cabinets together.

Remember me? The giant Victorian wardrobe, soon to be pantry progress. V. Slowwwww….One section is almost there. I’m sta...
14/11/2025

Remember me?

The giant Victorian wardrobe, soon to be pantry progress.

V. Slowwwww….

One section is almost there. I’m starting the left hand side this weekend. 5 sections in total, but I’m really trying not to think about that.

So far: (First section)

We’ve stripped off the oil cloth interior.
Removed the wallpaper beneath, along with what feels like a thousand tiny tacks and filled every tiny hole.
Sanded everything including the three large drawers and sliding shelves.
Primed everything.
Since then, I have spent two days fine filling, sanding and re-priming everything. Happy now.

Big, old pieces really do become a labour of love.

🖤

PS:
I’m going to partially re-line it in House of Hackney, Plantasia wallpaper in To***co and fit the drawers gorgeous k***s from Matilda Goad. The left-hand side will also have an adjustable saw tooth shelf system.

Thank you so much Jacquie Primrose and to George for the beautiful glass mosaic light catcher and chocolates, gifted to ...
08/11/2025

Thank you so much Jacquie Primrose and to George for the beautiful glass mosaic light catcher and chocolates, gifted to us today.

Two, new, replicated cabinet doors, which replace the original albeit dated 6 panel glazed versions, were fitted today, along with two shelves for Jacquie to fill with plants and ceramics, the last little details, completing their now bright and beautiful Dix Blue kitchen.

It’s been a lovely project from start to finish, we’ve really enjoyed seeing their kitchen completely come together.

You can find Jacquies stunning mosaics and mosaic courses following the link below:

https://www.primrosemosaics.com/about

It’s a small world…We were asked to paint the gorgeous John Lewis of Hungerford Artisan cabinet in August 2019, just aft...
07/11/2025

It’s a small world…

We were asked to paint the gorgeous John Lewis of Hungerford Artisan cabinet in August 2019, just after we’d completed our clients daughter’s kitchen. (Her daughter contacted us about repurposing her kitchen not long after we’d reconfigured and painted another relatives.)

Six years later, we’re back to the same house, reworking the utility into a and extending the gorgeous Mark Wilkinson Cooks kitchen into a now bigger space.

Our original clients have since moved, the cabinet now sits in their new kitchen along with the storage bench seat we built for a gap in the cabinetry.

We also built a Sewing Room for their new house in April 2024.

We’ve since refurbished many kitchens for other members of the family and their friends.

Word of mouth really matters to small businesses, we really appreciate every recommendation.

Now back full circle to the original kitchen we first visited 6 years ago. Repurposing and creative reuse never ages.

Buy well and it will last.

A busy couple of days building the bones of an enormous new fridge surround in Wanborough. We’ve loved making this so fa...
07/11/2025

A busy couple of days building the bones of an enormous new fridge surround in Wanborough.

We’ve loved making this so far. Replicating cabinetry and doors are our thing. It’s definitely pushing us though, in a good way.

Once it’s fully painted, the pull out larders and top box will be incorporated within the new curvy cabinet. The bespoke kitchen is much taller than standard modern cabinetry, but using some ready made units helps with the end cost.

The existing kitchen is also frame in frame, so we’ll do the same frontals once we’ve finished building a couple more cabinets elsewhere.

Despite its age, the Mark Wilkinson Cooks Kitchen is an absolute classic. These still regularly sell, second-hand, through companies like Rehome for £9-£10k. I was desperate for one 25 years ago!

When it was originally fitted, a table and cabinet sat in this space. We actually painted the John Lewis of Hungerford cabinet for the previous owners, it’s a small world!

Since then, the kitchen has been brilliantly extended by the new owners, so the existing cabinetry really needed to grow into the space.

We’ve already made the island skinnier and longer, which has made a huge difference, but the fridge surround now directly links the kitchen to the new dining space. Lots of tricky, curvy cornice and skirting still to make, (once everything is painted and the frames are fitted in place), but that’s the fun bit.

A couple more changes to go…




🖤

New Carrara Quartz fitted today in Wanborough by Anything StoneSuch tricky angles by the AGA, brilliantly executed. I ca...
31/10/2025

New Carrara Quartz fitted today in Wanborough by Anything Stone

Such tricky angles by the AGA, brilliantly executed. I can’t wait to see it all in place on Monday.

It’s taken a lot of work to get everything ready for today, the original kitchen has changed quite a bit.

The island is now longer and thinner, a new cupboard sits next to the AGA that better utilises an awkward space and the pull out double bin and spice rack modernise everything.

Next week we’ll build the fridge surround and boiler cupboard, and then start some serious painting.

There is a little bit of work to do to the upper cabinetry. An extra cupboard will be fitted into an odd space next to the AGA and a hideaway cabinet will be built for the toaster and kettle.

For now, it’s so lovely to see the worktops going in though. The light bounces around the room beautifully, it was so dark before.

27/10/2025

Storage bench in progress… Scumble Goosie

So, home news. I have two new cabinet doors…Anyone who has been following us for long enough will know our own kitchen h...
26/10/2025

So, home news. I have two new cabinet doors…

Anyone who has been following us for long enough will know our own kitchen has been in the makings for around a decade. A major downside of doing this for a living is our own house never gets a look in.

Currently, the bits of our kitchen that are finished are predominantly a light mustardy green shade, prior to that, a dark duck egg blue and prior to that black. (In my defence, I have waited a decade for it to progress, so I do get bored easily waiting for something to change.)

Anyway, Dave was so excited when he brought the two little doors and beech frames in yesterday, and fitted them to the cupboards, (which have actually been in place for three years as open cabinets. Time flies.. 🙄)

Is it quite the right time to tell him I’m painting the whole kitchen again, in my favourite pale plaster pink?

Chat GPT thinks it’s a great idea…

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SN13NR

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