Strokes of genius

The kitchen is one of the hardest-working rooms in the home, which means it’s one of the first places to start showing its age. So what happens when it needs a whole new look but you don’t fancy ripping everything out and starting from scratch?

Ian Merriman is an expert in kitchen reinvention and breathes new life into tired rooms using specialist paint techniques. Or as he likes to describe it, turning "mundane pieces of everyday furniture into unique masterpieces."

“Most people comment on the fact that it involves very little disruption because I take all the doors away to my workshop,” says Ian. “I sand them down, paint them and often put new handles on them, and it usually only takes a week for an average-sized kitchen. “There’s very little upheaval to the kitchen and the working of the family home, which is very important.”

“It’s a facelift for the whole room at a fraction of the cost.” Ian has extensive knowledge and experience of traditional painting skills that were passed down to him by his father. He’s a painter and decorator by trade and served his apprenticeship in the family-run decorating business, which has been established for over 45 years.

He set up Kitchens Painted six years ago and now divides his time between working for bespoke kitchen companies and home owners who want to rejuvenate their existing units, or indeed, other pieces including fitted or freestanding bedroom and bathroom furniture.

Ian says that as paint can be applied to almost any surface, old or new, the possibilities of transformation are endless: “There aren’t many things that can’t be painted."