Landing redecoration around oak joinery

This landing and stairwell was carrying a dated yellow that pulled the whole first floor down with it. The brief was to bring it back to a clean, neutral scheme that would let the oak joinery be the thing you notice.

That joinery is what made the job. Oak doors, oak newel posts, spindles and handrail are all finished timber, so there is no touching them up if paint goes astray. Everything was sheeted and masked before we started, floors were covered, and the walls and ceilings were then cut in tight against the oak, the white architraves and the skirtings.

The finished landing reads calm and bright, the oak looks richer against the neutral walls than it ever did against the yellow, and every line where paint meets timber is clean. Careful, patient work in a space with stairs, a stairwell drop and no room for error.