Chelsea Townhouse Garden Room — Heat-Resistant Decorative Interior

The Challenge

A south-facing glazed structure in central London can experience internal temperatures exceeding 40°C in summer and rapid thermal cycling between seasons. Standard emulsions and eggshells are not designed for these conditions and tend to crack and delaminate within a year or two. The client's desire for a decorative hand-painted ceiling — a trompe l'oeil sky with botanical border — added a further layer of technical complexity, as the paint medium used for the decorative work also needed to be heat-stable and flexible.

Our Approach

We specified Dulux Trade Satinwood as the base system for all walls and structural ironwork, chosen for its flexibility and resistance to the temperature cycling the room experiences. All surfaces were primed with Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 to seal the mixed substrate — a combination of painted steel, lime plaster, and new plasterboard. The decorative ceiling was executed by a specialist decorative painter working in artists' acrylic, which offers far greater flexibility and UV resistance than traditional oil-based decorative mediums. The botanical border was developed in close collaboration with the client over three preparatory sessions.

The Result

The garden room is now the most talked-about space in the house: the trompe l'oeil ceiling creates a magical continuity between the interior and the garden beyond, and the warm neutral walls and polished steel structure feel appropriately crisp for the space. Fourteen months after completion there is no sign of any cracking or delamination.