Wooden kitchen renovation - London

[workthrowaway]

Hello

I have tried googling but I am not finding what I want - help!

We inherited a gorgeous deVol kitchen when we bought our house 8 years ago, it was a bit chipped then and is now looking really tatty (kids!). We also have a wooden work top which is in desperate need of sanding and oiling. DH thinks this is beyond our DIY skills and that we risk ruining the whole kitchen and so he wants us (me) to get someone in.

Except the few enquiries I have made of kitchen fitters/ kitchen companies has yielded nothing - they will fit a new kitchen but not tidy up our current one.

I can find standalone sanding and oiling companies for the work top but ideally we would get both done at the same time. A decorator we have used in the past wouldn't touch the kitchen.

Surely there are companies/ people that specialise in repairing wooden kitchens or are people just replacing them every 15/20yrs?

Do both the worktops and door fronts need sanding and oiling? If so there is nothing easier to refinish even for the most limited diy skills.

Clean well, lightly sand with a medium to fine grade paper and re-oil with linseed oil and terebenthine. Work the oil into the grain with sanding block , keep adding until absorbed . Remove excess oil entirely! Let dry, repeat if necessary. Never leave oil pooled on surface after 20 minutes or it will become sticky and difficult to remove.

There should be some YT tutorials to show you how. Good luck with your gorgeous wood kitchen.

Thank you! I admire your confidence in our skills 😂

The doors are painted dark green, I would either keep the same colour or go for a dark blue as I guess it would be a nightmare to go light (and I quite like the dark colour).

It's probably more the prep work - there are quite a few dings on the corners that would need filling and I really don't want to mess it up.

I could probably have a go at the work top but would I need to hire/ buy a sander as it is a 6ft stretch plus an 8ft by 4ft breakfast bar? I assume we would do the cupboards first?

Why don't you just find a carpenter or even local handyman?

There are loads of kitchen spray painting companies. I haven't used any (always did the painting myself) but google brings up lots.

Local handyman/ decorator wouldn't do it when we asked him.

Yes! spray painting companies! That has returned several results and one just down the road that looks promising - I didn't know I had to Google that term 🙈 thank you @CatherinedeBourgh

good luck with the renovation!

I follow him on Twitter, having found his articles in the Decorator Magazine, & his restoration and painting work looks amazing, and he's done many kitchen repaints.

www.grb-interiors.co.uk/

No, don't do the cupboards first! Yes you need to buy or rent a sander. (It will pay for itself. ) A basic Bosch will be sufficient.

As for the painted cupboards , that is a job for an experienced DIY but would be worth having done by a pro as it is a lot of work.

I follow him too! I am desperate to strip the paint off my door frames and get them looking as good as he does BUT... I really don't think that will happen 😂 He is inspirational (and probably way out of my price range).

I think that's it- we could probably give it a go but we both work FT and it would take us forever. Definitely one to out source I think.