South Kensington — Complete Four-Storey Farrow & Ball Redecoration

The Challenge

Whole-house redecoration at this scale requires meticulous project management to prevent work on upper floors interfering with completed work below, and to ensure that the transitions between rooms — seen in sequence as one moves through the house — feel intentional rather than disconnected. The client had strong views on each room's character and required the colour scheme to function not just within individual rooms but as a coherent narrative across the entire house. The Victorian joinery — extensive, with deep panelled doors, elaborate architraves, decorative dados, and two flights of turned balusters — demanded careful preparation and several rounds of filling to achieve the crisp finish the client expected.

Our Approach

We worked top-down through the house, floor by floor, completing each level fully before moving down. The colour scheme was developed with reference to the natural light available on each floor: darker, richer tones in the lower-ground kitchen and dining room; lighter, airier colours in the first-floor reception rooms; calm, restful shades in the upper bedroom floors. All joinery was hand-stripped where necessary, filled with a two-part fine surface filler, sanded through multiple grades, and finished in Farrow & Ball Estate Eggshell with a final light cut-back to achieve a perfectly flat finish. All ceilings were finished in Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion in All White.

The Result

Walking through the finished house is an experience in itself: each room surprises without jarring, and the joinery, finished to an exceptional standard throughout, acts as a unifying thread across the whole scheme. The client described it as the best investment they had made in the property in twenty years of ownership.