Interior painting in Amsterdam

Old buildings need different preparation

In the canal ring and the nineteenth-century districts around it, many rooms have high ceilings, ornaments and layers of distemper or glue-based paint from decades ago. Latex adheres poorly to glue-based paint: put it on top anyway and it can start flaking within a short time. That is why our painter first checks what is on the ceiling. Sometimes the old layer has to come off, sometimes it can be sealed. How that works is explained under removing old layers of paint.

Walls in old buildings are rarely straight, either. That calls for patience when masking and a sharp eye at the line between wall and ceiling.

From the Amsterdam School to an apartment on the IJ

Amsterdam is a different city in every district, and you notice that indoors straight away.

• Canal houses in the centre, with steep stairs and tall, narrow rooms
• Homes from the 1920s and 1930s in West and Zuid, often with panelled doors and stained glass
• Garden villages and walk-up flats in Noord, with compact rooms and lots of doors on a small landing
• New-build apartments along the IJ, with large smooth walls that lend themselves to latex spraying

So in an upstairs flat in Amsterdam-West the work is about lacquering old doors and frames, while in a new apartment the walls and ceilings are the bulk of the job.

Stairwells and shared spaces

A large share of Amsterdam homes belongs to an owners' association (VvE), and the stairwell then belongs to everyone. You do not simply paint a shared space like that: the colour, the schedule and the walking route have to be agreed with all residents. For the stairwell in Amsterdam, Oranje Kwast chose a timeless combination of green and white in consultation with the residents. Residents need to get in and out as usual during the work, so it is done in sections and the stairs stay usable.

What Oranje Kwast does in your Amsterdam home

Our painter comes round in person for a free consultation, looks at the surfaces and the layers of paint and proposes a plan room by room. You can often carry on living there during the work. Floors and furniture are carefully covered, edges are neatly masked and the work area is tidied every day. At handover you go through everything together.

You can read more about the approach under interior painting, and what else Oranje Kwast does in the city is on the page painter in Amsterdam.