Spray painting is a popular method for painting kitchens, not least because it can be done much more quickly than painting a kitchen by hand. But the final look and feel of a spray-painted kitchen is very different from a hand-painted one. As with everything, there are pros and cons.
Read MoreHere is a list of the stickiest things known to man. Well, known to this man, anyway.
Superglue (especially when you get it on your fingers)
A jelly bean you lost in the van in sweltering heat which you suddenly find while feeling around blindly for something else you dropped
Whatever it is babies sneeze out
Painting kitchens takes a lot of grit. I’m not talking about the kind of grit it takes to walk barefoot up Croagh Patrick. Kitchen painting is physically demanding, but I’ll choose it over shoeless mountaineering any day.
No, I’m talking about the kind of grit you find on sandpaper.
I’ve asked The Paint Hub in Carlow for some help with this month’s blog post.
I’ve been buying my paint from them for many years now. Even though I’m based in Cloyne, Co. Cork—which is the same distance from Carlow as the Earth is to the Moon. The service, expertise and the range of paint they stock makes it very worthwhile for me to deal with them over that distance. They are simply out of this world. (Did you see what I did there?)
The quality of light in your kitchen is very important. Not least because it’s very hard to cook in the dark. Mind you, whenever I make something for my children, they say it’s so bad I must have cooked it in the dark. [Sidenote—when I was a kid, my mum would only have to say “Or else...” when I refused to eat my greens, and I would gobble them up. These days, kids are too familiar with their universal human rights.]
Read MoreDisaster!
That was the only thing going through my mind.
The acrid smell of a burned-out motor filled my nostrils. My stomach tightened with anxiety. The one piece of kit I absolutely cannot do without had just flamed out and died. In the middle of a job too.
When people say the word ‘vinyl’, it usually means one of two things:
They are old and about to bore you witless with stories of how music was better when Led Zeppelin were still performing back in medieval times.
Or:
I admire anyone who has a go at something themselves. I honestly do. Even if it’s painting their own kitchen cabinets and units. Actually… especially if it’s painting their own kitchen cabinets and units. I know how demanding that can be. And, between you and me, if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can go wrong quickly. A bit like flying an aeroplane.
Read MoreYou might think, given the nature of my work, I don’t bring work home with me. The thought of me removing someone’s kitchen from their house and taking it home might appear daft to you. You may even think my wife would be very upset if I kept bringing other people’s kitchens home.
Read MoreIsn’t water awful? Disaster. Ruins Six Nations rugby matches (I wish the Aviva had a roof) and is a demon for kitchens. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t let the stuff anywhere near a kitchen. Far too much chance of damage, if you ask me.
Read MoreWhile most of the kitchens I paint are in houses in Munster, I do travel all over Ireland. In fact, I’ll be in Ennis painting a kitchen when this post appears. And I have several Dublin kitchens booked this year already.
Read MoreI couldn’t live without my hairdryer. I take it everywhere I go. My wife gets quite jealous. Partly because of the close bond I have with my hairdryer. Partly because mine cost more than hers.
I tell my wife she has nothing to worry about. It’s not like I keep track of when I first met my current hairdryer. (3rd February, 2018.)
Read MoreI know two things about reputations.
One, they take a lifetime to build, but only a second to ruin.
Two, your reputation is what other people say about you behind your back.
Read MoreI couldn’t believe it. There was dust everywhere—spewed about the place by the heavy-duty sander that was being used to prep the kitchen.
Read MoreThere are several things a kitchen painter doesn’t want to hear after they’ve started work.
“Was that scratch always there?” is one.
Read MoreI’m quite well respected. Outside my own home, anyway. But that doesn’t mean that I simply stroll into jobs. Nor would I expect to. People entrust me with their dream kitchens. They are right to ask a few questions before hiring me.
I must tell you about one job that I didn’t land easily.
Read MoreThe story of how a 24-year-old kitchen in Youghal, Co. Cork, was transformed by a lot of love and some gorgeous paint.
Read MoreAnyone can hand paint a kitchen cabinet. But not everyone can do it properly. Even people who say they are professional kitchen painters. Here’s a story about how I was able to rescue a kitchen in Cork after the original painter did a terrible job.
Read MoreIt’s important to know for sure that once your kitchen is painted it is the colour you were expecting. Here is a story about how I made sure a client in Cork got the colour kitchen she wanted.
Read MoreThe story of a hand-painted kitchen in Cork and how I went about the job from start to finish, making sure all of my client’s requests were met.
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