DH Painter & Decorator offers decorative paint finishes in Abington, 1.6 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. The larger Edwardian houses facing Abington Park and the period terraces with cornicing and panelled doors suit heritage detailing, while the district's listed stone cottages call for traditional, breathable materials only.
Plasterwork worth picking out
The Grade I listed Abbey in the park, now the museum, is noted in its listing for its fine plaster ceilings, a reminder that ornamental plaster has a long history in Abington. The park-facing homes of about 1900-1925 on parts of Christchurch Road, Park Avenue South and Abington Park Crescent have larger rooms, and where they keep ceiling roses, cornices or panel mouldings, those details can be picked out.
Picking out means painting parts of that moulding in a second colour or sheen so the profile reads. Done well, it is subtle. Some approaches that suit houses of this date:
- A ceiling rose with its central boss and outer ring in a slightly warmer white than the ceiling, so the shape shows without looking like a cake decoration.
- The lowest member of a cornice painted in the wall colour, which visually lowers a very tall ceiling.
- Wall panel mouldings in a shade one or two steps darker than the panel infill.
The work is slow. Every line is cut in by hand, often two or three times, and we usually allow more time for a single rose than for painting the ceiling around it.
Panelled doors and dados in the Victorian terraces
In the late-19th-century streets, decorative work tends to sit lower on the wall. Original four- and six-panel doors can be finished with the mouldings in one tone and the flat panels in another, a traditional look that suits the age of the houses. Where a hallway or stair still has a dado rail, a darker, harder-wearing colour below it and a lighter one above was a practical period choice and still makes sense in a narrow terrace hall that doubles as the route for bins and deliveries.
Old doors here often carry many coats of paint, possibly including lead-based layers on older houses. Before any two-tone scheme, we test, then prepare with wet abrading or other dust-controlled methods so the mouldings are crisp again rather than rounded over by decades of paint.
Listed stone cottages: traditional materials only
A handful of Abington’s oldest buildings are listed squared-rubble stone: Archway Cottages at 9-12 Wellingborough Road, The Cottage on Christchurch Road and the 1846 former almshouses at 1-4 Abington Cottages on Abington Avenue. On buildings like these, modern acrylic or vinyl paints trap moisture in stone and lime. If the surface already has a limewash or similar traditional coating, the right finish is more of the same, and the stone itself should never be painted if it is bare. Work to a listed building that alters its character may need listed building consent, so we ask owners to speak to West Northamptonshire Council’s conservation officers before we start.
Feature walls in converted factory flats
Flats in Abington’s former warehouses and factories are a different brief. Tall walls and exposed brick invite contrast: a deep colour on a single plastered wall beside bare brick, a colour-blocked band at door height, or a painted arch around a window recess. These are big surfaces, so we use an access tower and set out straight lines with a laser level and tape rather than freehand. The main decorative finishes page covers faux effects and panelling methods in more detail.
Starting a decorative job
Dean looks at the plaster, woodwork or stone first, because no finish survives a weak surface, then sketches out options with you. For other work in the district, see our Abington area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
