BUILDING HEROES BUILDING FOR YOU
SHELFMAN & PAINTGIRL
DERMOT POWER
SHELFMAN
Dermot (Shelf Man): Leone and I joined forces in London during the late 90’s, following my return from Barcelona, where I had spent 5 years as a writer and English teacher. When I first met Leone, she was busy completing the final year of a fine art degree at Camberwell, where she specialised in some amazing conceptual art installations. To earn a living, I decided to return to my tools and picked up where I left off as a qualified carpenter and cabinet maker. After realising how well our skills and interests complimented one another, we decided to form a boutique design and build company and the rest, as they say, is history.
We are a London based partnership, with our head office in Maida Vale (W9) and we operate almost exclusively in and around North London, providing a valuable personalised service to local residential and commercial property owners. The majority of our projects revolve around specialised carpentry and interior wood crafts, unique paint finishes and bespoke decoration techniques, as well as over 20 years experience in the architectural restoration of retro and antique interiors, especially in Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian style homes.
Every project that we embark on is a transparent and open collaboration between ourselves and our clients. This open style relationship with our clients is vitally important to us, as we aim to deliver top quality services and products, which can only truly be achieved if we fully understand who our clients are, what they need and what they really desire, both from a functional perspective as well a stylistic point of view.
It's great to be able to change or adapt a space to suit someone's design or idea. We are both totally involved in the work from inception to conception which makes everything really straightforward.
If you would like to discuss a design and build project with us, then please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to chat on the phone and provide you with a free cost estimate for your project.
about PAINTGIRL
LEONE SPENCER
PAINTGIRL
Paint Girl offers a wide range of traditional painting and decorating specialist paint finishes for both residential and commercial properties, as well as furniture and fitted installations.
After over 20 years in the trade, Paint Girl has developed her own unique handcrafted specialist paint finishes that are second to none and offers clients a stylish collection of unique paint finishes that are a welcome edition to any home.
Paint Girl offers a full range of decorative finishes. Here are some of the finishes you can choose from:
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Colour Washing
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Marbling (Faux Marble)
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Leather Effects
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Ragging
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Stencils
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Stone Effects
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Wood Graining (Faux Bois
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Chalk Paint
We are frequently asked to custom design and decorate our client's interiors or to build fitted wardrobes and bespoke furniture to maximise space for storage or better utilise an interior from a functional perspective. Whenever possible, we also try to recycle materials and upcycle pieces of furniture rather than let good quality go to waste.
Over the years, we have become experts at restoring old stuff into new and we recognise the increasingly important obligation as makers to upcycle, recycle and repurpose household items as we become more aware of the depletion of natural materials in our modern world and the need to re-use materials. We have not used oil based paints for over ten years.
working with a
social enterprise
Goldfinger Factory is an award-winning design, build and teaching social enterprise, operating in the heart of London. It is a factory that offers a platform for artisans and artisans-in-the-making to become self-sustaining. It offers courses in sustainable woodworking and craft, aiming to educate people of all ages and backgrounds, from curious beginners to aspiring artisans.
Leone and I were invited to join forces with the Goldfinger team in 2015. Over a three year period we helped to teach, train and mentor hundreds of students of all levels. We also acted as project managers and coordinators on a wide variety of bespoke manufacturing projects, ranging from small batch furniture lines to residential interior design projects and several unique commercial installations, including Pam Bam eatery Camden Town, Bathtub incubator hub in City Road and The Welcome Trust Euston Road.
During this period, we also had the pleasure of working directly with the incredibly talented Tom Dixon and his design team, combining traditional carpentry with cutting-edge fabrication techniques, to produce a range of wonderful unique pieces. As well as working with famous designers, we have also collaborated with Catalyst housing association, the V & A, The Blenheim Project, Chelsea and Kensington College and a vast number of other companies located in and around central London. This was a great opportunity for us to give something back and pass on some of our technical knowledge, wisdom and business experience to younger artisans and crafts people, considering running their own businesses.
