Restaurant Fit-Out & Decorating, Chelsea Green

The Challenge

A two-week programme for a project of this scope and technical diversity was extremely tight — under normal scheduling, we would have allocated four weeks for this quantity and variety of work. The newly plastered walls and ceilings needed adequate drying time before decoration could begin, but the construction programme had left minimal curing time, with some sections of new plaster only three weeks old at the start of our programme. We could not afford to wait longer, nor could we risk applying finish coats to plaster that was still releasing moisture. The open kitchen pass — a feature that connected the dining room visually to the kitchen — meant our spray work on the bar fronts had to be completely isolated from the kitchen equipment installation happening simultaneously just metres away, with extractors, steel work surfaces, and gas connections all being fitted while we were spraying lacquer. The mural — a contemporary botanical design featuring oversized tropical foliage in muted greens and golds, spanning three metres wide by four metres high — needed to be painted freehand by our artist decorator working from scaffolding in the stairwell, coordinating with metalwork contractors who were simultaneously installing the mezzanine handrail directly adjacent to her workspace. The deep heritage colours specified for the dining room walls — Mylands shades including Myrtle Green and Borough Blue — required careful opacity building to avoid patchiness on the large wall areas, which typically demands three full coats and therefore more time than lighter colours. Every extra coat on a fourteen-day programme represented a significant scheduling challenge.

Our Approach

We mobilised immediately with a detailed hour-by-hour programme mapped onto a wall chart in our site office that tracked every task, every surface, and every team member's assignment across the fourteen days. New plaster was treated with a diluted mist coat of the finish emulsion on day one to seal the surface, followed by a coat of Zinsser Gardz problem surface sealer — a specialist product that stabilises new plaster and dramatically reduces the waiting time before finish coats can be applied — allowing us to begin finish coats by day three rather than waiting the usual week. The bar fronts were spray-finished within a sealed booth constructed on-site using timber framing and heavy-gauge polyethylene sheeting with a dedicated extract fan, using a two-pack polyurethane lacquer system in Mylands' midnight blue that delivered an exceptionally hard, wipeable, alcohol-resistant surface suitable for a high-traffic commercial bar environment. Each of the four bar front panels received four coats, hand-flatted between coats with 1000-grit wet-and-dry paper. The deep-toned dining room walls received three full coats of Mylands Marble Matt Emulsion in Myrtle Green and Borough Blue, with each coat applied by a pair of painters working in tandem to maintain a wet edge across the large wall areas and build even opacity without lap marks. Our artist decorator worked independently on the mural for five full days, first projecting the designer's artwork onto the wall using a digital projector to establish outlines, then painting freehand with One Shot lettering enamel and specialist artist's acrylics to build the layered botanical composition. The Bauwerk limewash feature on the chimney breast was applied in three coats by our plaster specialist, each coat brushed in crosshatch strokes to create the characteristic tonal depth, finishing with a coat of Osmo Polyx wax that would develop a gentle patina over time and protect the surface from the inevitable scuffs of a busy restaurant environment. We worked to a strict finish sequence throughout — ceilings first, then walls, then woodwork, then specialist elements — to prevent contamination of completed surfaces by work overhead or adjacent.

The Result

The restaurant opened on its scheduled date with every decorating element complete, snagged, and to specification — we finished at 3am on the morning of the soft launch, with our final team member walking out as the florist walked in to dress the tables. The owner hosted a soft launch for friends, family, and select food writers two days before the public opening, where the interior received unanimous praise and became the subject of extensive social media coverage. The botanical mural on the mezzanine stairwell became an immediate talking point and a popular backdrop for guest photographs on Instagram, contributing directly to the restaurant's early visibility online. A food critic reviewing the restaurant for The Sunday Times noted the interior as having a genuine sense of place and personality rarely found in new openings, specifically praising the limewash chimney breast and the mural as standout design elements. The two-pack lacquered bar front has performed exceptionally well under heavy commercial use — no chipping, scratching, or marking has been reported in the six months since opening, even with nightly cleaning and constant contact with glasses, bottles, and elbows. The restaurant owner has since referred us to two other independent restaurateurs opening in Chelsea and South Kensington.