Spray Painting Fitted Furniture Beyond the Kitchen: Alcoves, Home Offices, Utility Rooms and Wardrobes

Almost any fitted furniture in sound condition can be spray painted where it stands: alcove units, home office cabinets, utility room units, under-stairs storage and fitted wardrobes. The same HVLP process we use on kitchens gives MDF, solid wood, previously painted and sealed laminate surfaces a smooth, factory-style finish in any colour. A typical bedroom wardrobe takes 1 to 2 days, and the work carries a 5-year written guarantee.

What Fitted Furniture Can Be Spray Painted?

Alcove Units

Alcove cupboards and shelving are a feature of many Victorian and Edwardian houses. Joiner-built MDF units are often brush-painted in emulsion, which looks fine at first but chips, scuffs and yellows. A sprayed finish is harder and smoother, and stands up far better to daily contact.

Alcove units also suit two-colour schemes: the cupboard doors in one shade and the shelves or surround in another, so the unit becomes a feature rather than background furniture.

Home Office Cabinetry

Office storage that was fitted in builder's white can look like an afterthought. Respraying it in a considered colour helps the room feel like a workspace rather than a spare room. Deep blues and greens are popular choices; our guide to colour psychology for every room explains why calmer colours suit a room you need to concentrate in.

Utility Rooms

Utility units often take more punishment than kitchen cabinets: cleaning-product splashes, damp from the washing machine and constant use. A properly prepared, sprayed topcoat is usually far more durable than the original finish. If your kitchen needs doing too, our kitchen respraying service can be planned alongside so the two rooms match.

Fitted Wardrobes

Wardrobes from the 1990s and 2000s are often solidly built but visually dated, with cream or oak-effect doors. Respraying them white, navy, sage or charcoal changes the bedroom without the cost and disruption of new furniture. New made-to-measure wardrobes typically cost several thousand pounds for a single bedroom, so where the carcasses are sound, spraying is usually the far cheaper route to a new look.

Freestanding Pieces

Beds, chests of drawers, tables and chairs can often be collected, sprayed at our workshop in Sheepscar, Leeds and returned.

What Surfaces Does It Work On?

The spray process works on these materials, provided the surface is structurally sound:

• MDF. The most common material in fitted furniture from the 1990s onwards. It takes spray finishes extremely well and gives the smoothest result.
• Solid timber. Oak, pine and other woods can all be sprayed, and the right primer completely changes dark wood or orange pine.
• Previously painted surfaces. Emulsion, oil-based gloss and earlier spray finishes can be refinished if the existing coating is sound and properly prepared.
• Sealed laminate and melamine. These need careful cleaning, keying and an adhesion primer, but are suitable in most cases.

We will not spray furniture with structural damage, delaminating surfaces, water damage or warping that would prevent a flat, even finish. If any of these apply, we will tell you at the survey. Mirrors and glass are masked, not painted.

Popular Colours for Fitted Furniture

• Off-white or warm white: the most common choice for alcove units and wardrobes that should blend into the room.
• Navy blue: popular for wardrobes and home offices, particularly in period houses where deeper colours suit the rooms.
• Sage green: works in bedrooms and living rooms, especially with good natural light.
• Dark charcoal or graphite: often chosen for home offices and media units in more contemporary homes.
• Dusty pink or blush: requested more often than you might expect for bedroom wardrobes.

Choose matt, satin or gloss in any RAL, NCS, Farrow & Ball or Little Greene colour. Our colour matching service can also match a paint chip, fabric or an existing piece of furniture.

What Affects the Cost?

Fitted furniture is priced on a fixed written quote after a free survey. The main factors are:

• The number of doors, drawer fronts and panels. This is the biggest driver.
• Whether the insides are included. Interiors, shelves and drawer boxes are quoted as a separate line, so you can decide.
• Preparation. Sound MDF or painted surfaces need less work than glossy laminate, dark varnished wood or damaged areas that need filling.
• Detail. Shaker frames, mouldings and open shelving take longer than flat slab doors.
• Combining rooms. Spraying several units, or adding interior woodwork through our interior spraying service, in one visit is more efficient than separate visits.

How a Fitted Furniture Job Runs

1. Survey and colour samples, then a fixed written quote.
2. Preparation: cleaning, degreasing, light sanding and filling, with handles removed where possible.
3. Masking of the floor, walls, ceiling, mirrors and anything nearby.
4. Adhesion primer, then two topcoats with HVLP spray equipment.
5. Doors and handles go back on and we check every surface with you.

For how this compares with brushing and rolling, see interior spraying vs traditional painting.

What Customers Say

“A fantastic service all round from Matt and Shaun. They transformed outdated built-in wardrobes to a modern, fresh standard. Highly recommended.”

“Thanks Matt for communicating so efficiently and doing a great job. We had a set of fitted wardrobes resprayed and the finished result is great.”