DH Painter & Decorator applies decorative paint finishes in Southfields, the NN3 estate about 4 miles north-east of Northampton town centre. Homes here are planned estate houses with plain, evenly proportioned rooms, so a single well-scaled feature can do a lot of work.
Adding character where the builder left none
Southfields is a planned suburb of closes and pedestrian squares, and its interiors are fairly uniform. In estate houses of this kind that typically means flat plasterboard or plastered walls, standard ceiling heights, plain skirtings and little or no cornicing, picture rails or ceiling roses to pick out. Owners who want a room to feel less like every other room in the terrace have to add the interest themselves, and decorative paintwork is a relatively quick way to do it.
The finishes that suit these interiors are the ones that add depth or structure to a plain wall, not the faux-marble and gilding that belong in grander period rooms. The ones that suit houses of this type are painted panelling, two-tone or colour-blocked walls, and limewash-effect paint.
Matching the finish to the room
| Finish | Where it suits a Southfields home | Scale note |
|---|---|---|
| Painted panelling (shaker, board and batten, half-height) | Hallway, the stair wall, behind a bed | In a 45 sq m home keep panels narrow and the rail low; tall panelling crowds a small room |
| Colour-blocking or a painted arch | Alcove beside a fireplace, a desk corner, a child’s bedroom | Works well in tight spaces because it defines a zone without adding depth |
| Limewash-effect paint | One wall of a lounge or bedroom | Choose a soft, low-contrast movement; heavy mottling looks busy at short viewing distance |
| Two-tone wall split at dado height | Open-plan stairwells and landings | A darker lower half also hides scuffs from family traffic |
Because the rooms are small, you see a feature from close up and from most of the room at once. That favours finishes with gentle variation over bold ones, and one feature per room rather than several. In the terraced bungalows on Barley Hill Road, at around 34 sq m, a single panelled or colour-blocked wall in the living room is often enough for the whole home.
Panelling on timber-frame walls
EPCs for the Micklewell Lane and Brackenfield Square terraces list the walls as timber frame, which means plasterboard on studs on the inside. Panelling fitted by a joiner on those walls should be fixed into the studs or with a suitable panel adhesive, as board alone will not hold a heavy fixing. When it comes to the paint, MDF or timber panelling needs:
- a primer that seals cut MDF edges, which otherwise drink paint and raise their fibres;
- flexible decorator’s caulk in the joints between panel and wall, because timber-frame walls move slightly through the seasons and hard filler will crack;
- pins filled and sanded flush so the paint does not show every fixing;
- a durable eggshell or a scrubbable matt, especially on hallway and stair panelling.
The same movement means a limewash-effect wall on plasterboard should have its board joints checked and taped beforehand. A crack that reappears through a textured finish is harder to touch in than one in a flat emulsion.
Light, shade and textured paint
Back rooms facing the woodland belts around Pine Ridge, Brittons Drive and Watermeadow Drive get soft, low light. Limewash-effect paints and gently brushed finishes show their texture most clearly in raking light, so on a dim back wall the effect can look flatter than the sample suggests. A paler base colour and a little more contrast in the brushwork help there. A bright front room facing an open square, by contrast, can carry a subtler finish. If the colour itself is undecided, our Southfields colour advice page covers the shaded rooms in more detail.
Inside your own home, the only limits are the room and your taste. More on the full range of effects we apply is on the main decorative finishes page, and the Southfields area page covers everything else we do around the estate.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
