If you have recently given your home a serious makeover, now that the repairmen are gone and the mess is cleaned, you are probably assessing whether everything is as you imagined it. However, with so many choices to make it seems as though the work is never done, especially when
The people of Oxfordshire are being invited to take part in the search for the best painter and decorator in the region. Organised by the Oxford Kidlington, Cowley, Abingdon and Banbury Dulux Decorator Centres, along with Jack FM, the region-wide competition aims to find the superstar of decorating – whether
Within the painting and commercial decorating industry, there is a complex concoction of issues, both with regard to the industry’s image and the difficulties that those who maintain or construct buildings face in finding reputable, quality painting contractors for their projects. This is where the Dulux Trade Contract Partnership Scheme
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
If you have recently given your home a serious makeover, now that the repairmen are gone and the mess is cleaned, you are probably assessing whether everything is as you imagined it. However, with so many choices to make it seems as though the work is never done, especially when it comes to the interior. For those lost in a multitude of options and who are worn out from making major remodeling decisions, here are a few smaller projects to consider that will highlight the beauty of your freshly renovated nest. Go green If you are an outdoorsy person, you shouldn’t think twice before you fill your home with plants. Huddle them in order to make a green corner or place them gingerly around the room. Esthetically speaking, plants will enrich any space with a dash of color. If you play around with how you arrange the pots, you can create many interesting arrangements which will revive a dull room. However, plants are more than decorative elements to your house. They purify the air, which then makes the room feel fresher and people less fatigued and therefore happier. Besides consequentially lifting your mood, the greenery is a good place to rest your eyes. The only thing to be mindful of is the intake of water and the amount of direct sunlight each plant requires, as well as whether you are able to provide them with those conditions. Let the light in Even countries which get a lot of sunlight all year through, like Australia, have to sometimes compensate with lamps and chandeliers when there is not enough light or windows in a room. If you wish for a room to appear spacious and open, consider track lighting. It is quite convenient since it can be placed even on walls and beams, enabling more light sources to be placed throughout the room. Even the atmosphere in the house can be set with a specific light setting. For example, head for well-equipped lighting stores in Sydney in search of dimmers and lamps which can give your bedroom a cozier and warmer feeling. Such stores always have an employee who can provide you with advice on the choice of the light source, depending on what your wishes are. Accessorize moderately Striking a balance between peppering every available surface of the house with trinkets and having room to move is not always an easy task for people who love ornaments. However, too much clutter, no matter how gorgeous those individual items look, can turn your elegant family house, whether it`s a country house or a downtown 3-bedroom apartment, into an aesthetically-challenged flee market. So, think in terms of central pieces, those that will catch everyone’s eye and enrich the lovely undertone you already created. It can be anything from a vase to a clock, but once you set it in place, make sure that other elements, if any, accentuate the beauty of both your home and that central piece, instead of disrupting it. Mix and match Don’t be afraid to play around with fabrics, materials, and colors since the combinations you can create can give your interior just the right boost. Hardwood goes well with finer elements, so your wooden crate can be a resting place for a modern glass lamp. Cold marble kitchen countertops are perfect for placing a small flower pot, or a set of wooden utensils. A leather armchair could be combined well with soft cashmere thrown over it, and if your living room is black and white, throw in a yellow pillow or two to give it some life. If your bathroom has just a little window as the source of light, paint the walls white, choose bright colored tiles, as well as towels. Depending on the floor color and material, mix dark surfaces with pastel carpets and vice versa, but don’t forget that you would need a thicker fabric for tile floors if you wish to stay warm. Although you might be happy with the way the interior of your home looks like, there are probably a few things that you could change, just to strike a better balance with the atmosphere you created. If you are a nature lover, adding plants and flower pots will please you both visually and psychologically, while carefully positioned lighting can contribute to boosting your mood. For trinkets collectors, the only cure is to limit their budget and aim for central pieces instead of the whole store, while artistic souls could enjoy bravely mixing styles and materials. Whatever you choose, just bear in mind that when it comes to interior decorating, less is more.
The people of Oxfordshire are being invited to take part in the search for the best painter and decorator in the region. Organised by the Oxford Kidlington, Cowley, Abingdon and Banbury Dulux Decorator Centres, along with Jack FM, the region-wide competition aims to find the superstar of decorating – whether it’s because they’ve spruced up a community centre with a lick of paint or turned a house into a dream home with their top quality wallpaper skills. Along with the title of Oxfordshire’s painter and decorator of the year, the winner will win £1,000 in Dulux Decorator Centre vouchers for themselves and a Dulux Decorating Academy training course of their choice up to the value of £250. Two runners up will win £500 in vouchers for second place and £250 for third place to spend in Dulux Decorator Centres. While all five finalists will receive a Dulux goody bag. Entries are open until the 25th November, with both tradespeople and the general public encouraged to nominate themselves or people they know by going to www.oxfordshiredecorator2018.co.uk A shortlist of five will be drawn up by a panel of expert Dulux Decorating Centre judges but it will be the public that will have the final say – getting a chance to vote for their favourite throughout December. “We know the talents of our local decorators and see the end results of their handiwork in homes across the county. That’s why we want to reward them all and recognise the best of the best with the title of Oxfordshire’s painter and decorator of the year, as we see this as the perfect opportunity to celebrate all that’s great about painting and decorating in Oxfordshire,” said Gary Bilton, Regional Manager at Dulux Decorator Centre. “The region is really important to us, having just opened brand new stores in Cowley in October and in Abingdon earlier in the year – joining our two existing branches in Kidlington and Bambury. So we wanted to take the time to celebrate the talent that this area has produced,” added Gary. For any competition related questions please visit the Dulux Decorator Centres in Oxford Kidlington, Cowley, Abingdon and Bambury.
Within the painting and commercial decorating industry, there is a complex concoction of issues, both with regard to the industry’s image and the difficulties that those who maintain or construct buildings face in finding reputable, quality painting contractors for their projects. This is where the Dulux Trade Contract Partnership Scheme comes in; a scheme that is not solely looking to champion the best commercial decorators, but looking to reshape the very image of the wider sector itself. Historically regarded as a skilled trade, commercial decorating is an integral part of any project development, both for new build and refurbishment. It offers the opportunity to entirely transform the interior of a building into an environment that enhances people’s lives. In recent years however, the sheer potential of this role has unfortunately been overlooked, as a result of the global recession, with cost-cutting prioritising over quality workmanship for the majority of projects. On this note, the Contract Partnership scheme is working hard to change this image and is targeting three core concepts capable of realigning the position of commercial decorating within the construction industry itself: the availability of quality workmanship, the inspiration of trust and reliance in commercial decorators playing a key role in construction projects, and the provision of a clear line of support offered to commercial decorators who are committed to elevating the reputation of the industry. Now boasting a network of some 250 approved decorators, the Contract Partnership scheme exists out of a combined need for Dulux Trade to champion the best of the best in the wider industry and drive forward the efficient use of high quality products. As such, the network is considered to be quite exclusive, with strict assessment procedures and requirements for commercial decorators to enter the scheme. While this may be quite a daunting concept for tradesmen, this exclusivity means that only quality approved contractors are able to enter the scheme and provides reassurance to the client that they are working with the highest quality tradesmen in the UK. The assessment and application process and auditing may be thorough but it gives contractors who get through the scheme an advantage, giving them a real USP with clients. Illustrating the driving ambition behind the Contract Partnership scheme as a way of highlighting excellence within the industry, Duncan Lochhead, Commercial Marketing Manager, explains: “We want to be championing the very best contractors who are working to drive continual improvements in the industry. Our aim is to encourage customers not to settle for poor workmanship, but to insist on quality commercial decorators. We can then, hopefully improve the focus on quality for all those operating in the market including those already in the partnership. This improvement is rewarded with incentives for members.” With its technical specification team consistently out in the field, providing support services for many of the UK’s leading asset managers and contractors, the Contract Partnership scheme is at the sharp end of the industry with a direct feed into the market and is therefore well placed to reflect the needs and wants of the modern-day building owner and contractor. The field resource significantly helps Dulux Trade understand the capabilities and professionalism displayed by commercial decorators across all projects. By not only recommending commercial decorators, but also monitoring the progress of individual projects, the Contract Partnership scheme is increasingly taking a central role in the sourcing and management of commercial decorating contracts across a wide range of projects. As a concerned stakeholder in the commercial decorating sector, the Contract Partnership scheme is integral to the future prosperity of the decorating industry, driving standards up and value into the wider construction industry itself – a responsibility which the scheme takes very seriously. As Lochhead further suggests: “We have a keen sense of responsibility towards all projects that we’re involved with. We follow projects through to completion to be sure that decoration goes well. We get a feel, on an ongoing basis, of who is delivering quality in the marketplace and then invite them to go through the assessment process. Rarely does a contractor pass the audit first time without improvement recommendations, but we provide help and support so they can make those improvements and reach the standards required to pass the audit.” The Contract Partnership scheme also improves the accessibility of such contractors through its web portal, an enhanced search-based website where some procurement processes can be undertaken on the website itself. This, in effect, offers something of a one-stop-shop service and is the first step to inspire clients to use highly skilled contractors to realise their ambitions of bringing colour into their projects. The website is a simple, reliable procurement solution for building owners and asset managers. This simple and efficient method of procurement, combined with the expertise and reliability of decorators on the scheme, is also confirmation of the Contract Partnership’s aspiration to encourage trust within the industry. Through the partnership, it is hoped that leading specifiers will be able to rest easy, knowing that they can rely on Contract Partnership commercial decorators to not only support the client’s vision of a building, but to bring innovative creations to the table which can completely and utterly transform environments. Explaining the importance of this trust and the potential for transformation, Lochhead details: “Our commitment and strategic ambition is to not only promote quality in the marketplace but also to. In doing so, we give clients the confidence to create an amazing transformation rather than a bland recoat in magnolia. You can make a huge difference to the users of a building through their visual experience of it; you can improve learning outcomes for education, healing outcomes in hospitals, productivity in office environments and more. Having skilled commercial decorators as part of their team gives specifiers confidence that they can deliver an amazing transformation.”
