This kitchen project took me to a beautiful villa just outside the village of Mijas with the Sierra De Mijas behind, panoramic views of the sea and within earshot of the Chapel bells.
Mijas lies 400m above sea level and about 7kms inland from Fuengirola. Despite being a very popular tourist attraction it has managed to retain much of it’s traditional Andalucian ‘Pueblo Blanco’ charm with cobbled streets and tiny village squares.
On this project I was commissioned to paint the handbuilt Limed Oak solid wood kitchen to colour match RAL 9010 which is a ‘Pure White’ in a Valentine’s Valacryl satin finish which has an A+ rating. http://www,valentine.es
Before Photo Limed Oak
Before Photo Limed Oak
The clients also wanted the inside of all the units to be painted with the same care and attention as the doors and visible unit ends, panels, cornice etc. This meant that the contents of the #kitchen were packed away in the hall and lounge during the process. The whole family were staying at the Villa and camped out in the utility room during this part of the job! I pride myself on minimal disruption and normally the kitchen would remain in use but it was unavoidable here.
The end result was worth it as all the internal joints were caulked and filled too and had exactly the same treatment as the rest of the kitchen. – shelf studs, screw-caps and hinge plates etc were removed before painting and cleaned before refitting to look new.
The doors were stripped of all hardware at the workshop before being cleaned with a vinegar and water mix, filled and repaired where necessary and sanded with 120 grit first to de-sheen and then finished with 180/220 to smooth before the priming process. The original painter had opened up the oak grain with a wire brush on the middle panels, some spots heavier than others so these were filled here and there to give a more consistent look across the whole kitchen. Existing handles were going back on and were put through the dishwasher together with the hinges.
The original MDF drawer fronts, cupboard doors and panels on the island unit were replaced with new solid Oak so that the whole kitchen would have the same subtle wood grain showing.
All the existing worktops were replaced with new Black granite.
The whole kitchen had 3x basecoat and 3x top coat for a super smooth, durable finish sanding with very fine sandpaper in between.
As all the cupboard interiors had been painted the refitting took a day to complete. I also repaired their American fridge door handles with several light coats of aluminium spray paint, this was a quick process, the masking off the fridge took the time!!
It’s not often that I #paint the entire kitchen, inside and out! This lovely family from Denmark have lived in Zurich, Luxembourg and now Spain and told me that they always have a black and white kitchen to remind them of home and had gathered to celebrate what would have been their parents’ birthdays. It was great to paint with the sound of family laughter in the background and I’ve finally learnt to say ‘Hygge’ properly which is the Danish word for cozy, warm and friendly! Think ‘Hoo-ga’ and you won’t be far off!!
Delighted to be returning to paint the furniture in the utility room early next year.
Samantha Bayley
#ThePaintedKitchen
(RAL paint numbers are the most popular Central European colour standard way of recognizing colours used in industry and architecture invented in Germany in 1927, prior to this industry had to physically swap paint samples to have any colour uniformity.) http://www.ralcolor.com
Mijas Tourist Information can be found here http://www.andalucia.org
Pueblo Blancos, the White towns of Andalusia are a series of towns and large villages in the northern part of the provinces of Cadiz and Malaga in Southern Spain characterized by whitewashed walls and red/brown tiled roofs.
