Painted Kitchen

Messages
161
Location
Stockport, England
This is the job that's been keeping me awake all summer!

It's probably the most complicated project I've ever undertaken from the most demanding client I've ever had. To compound matters, she's also pregnant! I don't think I need to elaborate on the difficulties this can result in...

Anyway, we finally got finished the other day so here are the piccies:

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You know what though, after completing this I fear nothing!!!
 
Duncan if I could choose from a thousand kitchens this is the one I would choose.
I have never seen a kitchen I like as much. It's as if it was made just for me.

I Love it!!!!!
Beautiful work

DT
 
duncan, it looks like this one was worth the effort!! great job on all accounts. especially dealing with the customer and still completing an A+++ job.

did you do the finishing as well. it looks excellent. i wish painters around here did that good of a job.

thanks for sharing.

chris
 
duncan, it looks like this one was worth the effort!! great job on all accounts. especially dealing with the customer and still completing an A+++ job.

did you do the finishing as well. it looks excellent. i wish painters around here did that good of a job.

thanks for sharing.

chris

Thanks Chris,

All our painting is done in-house. I'm lucky enough to have a 500 sq ft spray-shop in an adjoining building to the main workshop and a qualified finisher with 20 years experience behind him.

Call me a control freak but I wouldn't like to farm out such an important part of the process!
 
Outstanding kitchen, Duncan!

HOW do you about designing a kitchen? Do you use a computer to do the layout AND the cabinet design?


.

In this case Al, the client provided plans that she had drawn up in precise detail. I just had to follow them. To be fair, for a novice she had done an excellent job and it made my life a little easier.

Normally though, I just use a pencil and lots of paper! I've tried Sketchup and will try it again but so far I still find it quicker to do things the old way.

Funnily enough, I find that clients quite like it that I draw out a design by hand rather than on a laptop - it goes with the image I like to portray of the artisan craftsman plying his ancient trade.

I very rarely do proper drawings of cabinets. Like most makers I have my standard method of construction that I stick to and just adjust the measurements accordingly. I do use a spreadsheet for compiling my cutting lists, however - for cabinets and for doors.
 
Duncan if I could choose from a thousand kitchens this is the one I would choose.
I have never seen a kitchen I like as much. It's as if it was made just for me.

I Love it!!!!!
Beautiful work

DT

Hey Don, I'll build you one!

Ship it out and come over with the family & fit it with you while they do the theme parks!

$50,000?
 
Duncan

I like everything about the kitchen except for those two pillars, they seem to intrude into a very clean design.

Jay
 
Thanks Chris,

All our painting is done in-house. I'm lucky enough to have a 500 sq ft spray-shop in an adjoining building to the main workshop and a qualified finisher with 20 years experience behind him.

Call me a control freak but I wouldn't like to farm out such an important part of the process!

no i wouldn't call you a control freak...just a good craftsman!!!

do you mind telling me what type of paint the finish is? or is it even paint?

thanks
chris
 
Awesome job, Duncan:thumb:

I do have to agree that the dark columns are a bit.....different. Customer request/design? Any comments on them? Like Chris, I'm interested in the paint you used.

Overall, a very very nice kitchen.
 
i like the columns, mainly because they are different, and i like to push the envelope when it comes to kitchen design, i especially like the darker wood on the interior of that spice rack and on the backs of the cabinets.

but i guess that's one of those "to each his own" type things


just my 02

chris
 
Duncan, I'd say that "Painted" kitchens are under appreciated, if they are like this one :D :thumb:

VERY nice indeed!

I'm sorry, but from the wording of your posts, I'm not clear, was this really a "Client" or your "wife" and your house?:huh:

No real matter, as the work is outstanding!

At first I agreed with Jay, about the "Pillar" thing, the brown ones, but I did a little image playing around.....
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........and if you will excuse the bad hack job on your fine work, I'd have to say that while the no pillar look is cleaner looking, the pillars certainly do add a visual tag to the overall look of the cabinets.

I think that would come down to more of a personal choice issue, and if the customer wanted it, I'd say they would get it!

The only other thoughts that crossed my mind was with an impending rug rat in residence........... "What wonderful "flat", "white" crayon writing surfaces you have given this kid, and close to the floor too! :eek: ;) :wave:

Outstanding work, thanks for sharing! :clap:
 
Awesome job, Duncan:thumb:

I do have to agree that the dark columns are a bit.....different. Customer request/design? Any comments on them? Like Chris, I'm interested in the paint you used.

Overall, a very very nice kitchen.

I agree entirely with everyone's comments on the columns - I think they spoil the design. However the client (NOT my wife, by the way!) was a very single minded and determined lady who dictated every last detail. I will try and scan in the plans she drew for me and post them later today - you will be amazed!

To give you an idea of what she was like, she would drive 20 miles out of her way after work every afternoon to come to my shop and check on the progress we had made during the day. As you can see from the photos, this was not a simple project, and explaining how on some days all that had been achieved was the machining of some complex moulding could get a little stressful.

I suggested that she might find someone else to make her kitchen on more than one occasion!

The paint used was an AC paint mixed specially for the job by Morrells Woodfinishes, the UK's biggest woodfinishing company, who's factory just happens to be in the same town as me.

Everything had two coats of white AC primer, followed by two coats of paint.

Normally on a kitchen like this, I would use MR MDF for the carcasses and either poplar or beech for the frames and doors. However, due to a limited budget set by the client, this one is built entirely from moisture resistant MDF. The only solid wood here is on the columns, the backboards, and the knobs. Hands up who could tell!
 
Hi Duncan,
WOW, what a beautiful kitchen, I'm impressed.
I have the same thought about the pillars, in my eyes they are disturbing, but can be the wish of your client.
Anyway, this kitchen shows your craftmanship.!!
 
Duncan,

Well....the customer is always right....right? :rofl::rofl: (Did she give any hint as to why she wanted the columns?)

The paint is very nice...I'll check the mfgr in a bit.

I would never guess the cabinets were all MDF. What about the trim...custom, some bought/some made by you? I like the small recess around the doors/drawers.:thumb:

It will be interesting to see the homeowner drawings....:lurk:
 
Duncan, the kitchen does NOT look like it is made from MDF, that being said, I guess in some aspects, it is the material of choice for a "Painted" kitchen, as it has no real grain, and should machine consistently.

Again, GREAT job!

PS, the flooring reminds me of my Grandmother's kitchen, she had a VERY similar pattern, that my Grandfather made for her custom. She was English, and this is what she wanted, they did not sell anything like it at the time in Canada. Is that pattern fairly common over there?

Cheers!
 
Duncan,

I would never guess the cabinets were all MDF. What about the trim...custom, some bought/some made by you? I like the small recess around the doors/drawers.:thumb:

It will be interesting to see the homeowner drawings....:lurk:

I made all the trim and mouldings except for the coving which sits above the dental moulding. This I have made for me by a local supplier on a 6-head moulder in poplar, oak, and maple.

Oh, and the columns are simply lengths of beech dowelling I picked out of the waste bin at the same supplier! Ten quid for the lot! I turned the end pieces myself.

The bead around the doors and drawers is machined into the face frame stock before assembly. The standard way of then cutting the mitres to assemble the face frames is to use a cross-cut jig on the table saw. I however, prefer to rout them with a 45 degree bevel cutter with a flat bottom and a shop-built jig. It's a similar process to routing out hinge mortices.

The dental moulding was a bit of a challenge, but I did it by cutting dadoes across a sheet of MDF on the radial arm saw, and then ripping the sheet into strips of the right width.

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys.
 
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Super job on the trim. Any chance to see the process..and the jig you used, if it's not one of your trade secrets, that is....:doh:

I checked out Morrell's website. It appears they are pretty much wholesale to trade customers like you instead of retail customers...correct? Do you do a lot of painted work as opposed to stained?

Any shop photos?

Sorry for all the questions, but as you can probably tell...I am very impressed with your work.
 
Super job on the trim. Any chance to see the process..and the jig you used, if it's not one of your trade secrets, that is....:doh:

I checked out Morrell's website. It appears they are pretty much wholesale to trade customers like you instead of retail customers...correct? Do you do a lot of painted work as opposed to stained?

Any shop photos?

Sorry for all the questions, but as you can probably tell...I am very impressed with your work.

Thanks Greg.

I'll do some photos of my router jig process when I've got a quiet minute - and no, it's not a trade secret!

You can see some shop photos at my website - www.thecabinetmakers.com
 
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