Full interior transformation of an Edwardian home in Kew

The brief

The owners of a five-bedroom Edwardian house in Kew were carrying out a major renovation and adding a new extension. They needed one specialist contractor to take the whole interior from structure to finish: plasterboarding, plastering and the decorative finishes in every room of both the original house and the new extension.

Bringing the plastering and the decorating together under one team was central to the brief. It meant the owners had a single point of contact for the finish of their home, and no gaps or disputes between trades when the plasterers handed over to the decorators.

The challenge

A renovation and extension on this scale brings together old and new. The original Edwardian rooms had walls and ceilings that had been altered, opened up and chased for new services, while the extension was a blank shell that needed boarding and plastering from scratch.

The finished house had to feel like one home rather than an old building with an add-on. That meant the plaster in the extension had to be as flat and true as the best walls in the original house, and the decorative finishes had to carry through seamlessly from one part of the property to the other.

Our approach

• Plasterboarding. We boarded walls and ceilings across the extension and the renovated areas of the original house, with joints, corners and openings set out ready for a clean skim
• Plastering throughout. Our plasterers skimmed the new boards and repaired and re-plastered existing walls, giving smooth, flat surfaces ready for decoration
• Making good around new services. Chases, sockets, switches and pipework were made good so nothing showed through the final finish
• Correct drying and preparation. New plaster was left to dry properly before mist coating, then filled, sanded and checked under strong light
• Decorative finishes. Walls, ceilings and woodwork were decorated throughout to the owners' specification, with the same care given to the original Edwardian rooms and the new extension

Why one team for plastering and decorating

On most renovations the plasterer and the decorator are separate trades, and small problems in the plaster only show up once the paint goes on. By handling the plastering and the decorating ourselves, we controlled the quality of the surface from the first board to the final coat. Any imperfection was dealt with at the plastering stage rather than patched over later, which is what gives a high-end finish its sharpness.

It also kept the programme simple. There was no waiting between trades and no handover gap, and the owners always knew who was responsible for the finish.

The result

The owners received a complete interior transformation: a five-bedroom Edwardian home and its new extension boarded, plastered and decorated throughout by one team. The original house and the extension now read as a single, finished home, with smooth walls, crisp edges and a consistent decorative scheme from room to room.

Renovating a period home in Richmond or Kew?

We plaster and decorate Edwardian, Victorian and Georgian homes across Richmond, Kew and south-west London, from single rooms to full renovations and extensions. Book a free survey and we will give you a fixed, itemised quote.