Heritage & period home painting
Victorian and Edwardian houses across Melbourne: ornate cornices, ceiling roses, cast iron lace and old render. Detail like this is cut in by hand, line by line, because the moment it is rolled or sprayed the sharpness is gone for good.
An old house is not a slower version of a new one
Almost everything that makes period work harder happens before the first coat. On a new build the surface is ready. On a hundred year old house it has to be made ready, and that is where the time goes.
- Ornate plaster is cut in by handDeep cornices, ceiling roses, panelled ceilings, picture rails, arch mouldings and wall niches. None of it can be rolled and none of it can be sprayed over without filling the detail in. It is done by hand, line by line, and it is slow on purpose.
- Old paint has to come back before new paint goes onPeriod rooms usually carry several generations of paint, and the earlier coats are often gloss or oil. Everything gets sanded so the new coat has something to hold, and cracks and chips are filled and made good rather than painted over.
- Original joinery stays originalDoors, frames, skirtings, sash windows, balustrades and stair joinery are part of why the house is worth what it is. They are prepared and finished as carefully as the walls, not treated as trim.
- Timber can be stained instead of paintedNot every piece of old hardwood wants colour. Where the timber is worth showing, it is stained and sealed with a clear coat rather than covered.
- The house stays covered the whole timeFloorboards, tessellated tiles, fireplaces, chandeliers and leadlight are all older than the paint job and harder to replace. Everything is boarded, taped and covered before a tin is opened, and it stays that way until the room is finished.
What you are allowed to do, before we talk colour
Many older Melbourne streets sit under heritage controls, and what applies varies from council to council and sometimes from street to street. External colour is the part most often caught by it.
- We check first, we do not assumeBefore quoting an exterior on a period home, we check with the council what applies to that address. It costs a phone call and it avoids the one mistake nobody can undo cheaply.
- Inside is usually your own businessInterior colour is rarely controlled, which is why period interiors on this site run from soft blue grey to warm apricot to deep olive. Outside is where the rules live.
- Heritage colours are a palette, not a punishmentCream, deep red oxide, olive, bottle green and near black were the original ranges, and they suit these houses because they were designed for them.
Real houses, not stock photos
Four period interiors and a Victorian terrace exterior, all from Melbourne homes. Every one of these is in our galleries in full.
Victorian terrace in Carlton, exterior in heritage cream
A double storey Victorian terrace finished in heritage cream, with the cast iron lace, verandah posts and panelled front door picked out. Lace like this is the slowest part of any period exterior and the first thing people look at.
Four period interiors: Armadale, St Kilda, Brighton and Oakleigh
The same approach in four different houses and four different colours: a renovation repaint in Armadale where every crack was plastered and sanded first, a Victorian home in St Kilda taken to a soft blue grey with all its joinery, ornate plaster kept white in Brighton, and warm apricot walls against white mouldings in Oakleigh.
Heritage community centre in Caulfield, full exterior repaint
Period work is not only houses. A rendered heritage building repainted right around, street frontage to rear elevation, where the old render had blistered and had to be made good before any colour went on. The arched leadlight windows and parapets were masked and the brick plinth left as it was.
Own a period home in Melbourne?
Tell us what you are planning. We will come and look, check what applies to your address, then give you one fixed price.
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