Decorating Etiquette – Paint the Town Green

Paint The Town Green (PTTG) launched in 2007 becoming London’s first decorating company with its own range of eco-friendly paint, way before ‘eco’ became a buzzword. Twelve years
later and it’s still making waves in the decorating world with its bespoke service and impeccable decorating etiquette.

Based in Wandsworth, PTTG is a onestop-shop decorating company offering well beyond what you’d expect from a traditional decorator. Its services cover painting and decorating to managing electricians, plumbers, carpenters and plasterers, and working with interior designers.

Phil Robinson, founder of the company enthuses, “We want to achieve the best results for our clients and offer them the best services we can to make the whole decorating experience as easy as possible for them.”

Phil has been decorating for over twenty years. His knowledge of his craft and his attention to detail is so acute that he will always point out areas that need repair before the rollers come out, and his team will remedy any underlying problems in walls or woodwork to ensure that no cracks appear in the paint later. If there is a bigger problem, such as damp caused by a leak in the roof, Phil can even call in the roofers.

“WHETHER WE ARE WORKING ON A DOWNSTAIRS LOO OR AN ENTIRE STATELY HOME, WE TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN OUR WORK”

PTTG’s work is made to last. They use the right primers and paints for all areas of a home whether it’s interior or exterior, bathrooms, kitchens and areas of high traffic. Phil’s top tip is to use PTTG’s wipeable emulsion paint, usually used for bathrooms and kitchens, in a darker colour under the dado rail in the hallway to protect from grubby little handprints.

In-house interior designers, Katie Baring and Raluca Racasan also conduct colour consultations at clients’ homes at no extra charge to help them select the best colour scheme, looking at their furniture, paintings, how the light comes into the rooms and how they use the house. Clients can opt for PTTG’s own paint, free from toxic fumes, including ‘The Stones’ range  developed in collaboration with interiors guru Nicky Haslam, or other brands on the market, to achieve the results they want.

But what really makes this company stand out from the crowd are its ethics. Phil explains, “We are passionate about the quality of our workmanship but equally as important to us is our code of conduct, which is how we behave in our clients’ homes and this means being considerate and thoughtful to their needs at all times. A client can leave our decorators in their home with the peace of mind that they will look after it.”

That’s why it’s standard for clients to be asked questions like when their baby’s nap time is or when they will be on a conference call so that the team works quietly around them. They’ll also be asked if they have a cat that mustn’t be let outside or a dog that needs to stay in the utility room so that there is as little disruption as possible to the household.

Operations Manager Terry Teasdale visits regularly to spot check the quality and tidiness of the work, and Phil calls all of his clients at the end of each project to ask them if they are happy and if there was anything the team could have done better. “The truth is that we are not satisfied unless our clients are, so if something needs re-doing, then we will re-do it,” says Phil.

Because PTTG has teams of decorators all over London, they can work to short time frames too. If there is a baby on the way, visitors arriving from abroad or tenants moving in, Phil will pull out all the stops to finish the work on time. Phil adds, “Whether we are working on a downstairs loo or an entire stately home, we take great pride in our work and in our code of conduct. We listen to our clients, respect their homes and work around their needs. Ultimately, we just want our customers to enjoy working with us.”