Painting & Decorating
Painters and decorators in Essex, finished to show home standard
Interior and exterior painting and decorating for homes across Essex, by our own team of decorators.
We are painters and decorators for homes across Essex: interior and exterior house painting, from a single room to a whole house. Our decorators are our own team, they finish to show home standard, and we arrange the scaffolding when the job is outside.
The price depends on the area, the condition of the surfaces, how much preparation they need, the finish you choose and, outside, the access. Every job is quoted individually, with one clear price before any work begins, and enquiries are answered within 24 hours.
Interior painting and decorating
Madisons paints and decorates the inside of Essex homes: walls, ceilings, skirting boards, doors, staircases and feature walls. Every surface is prepared before it is finished, because preparation is where most of the standard is won. That means filling, sanding and a mist coat on new plaster before any finish goes on.
The decorators are Madisons’ own team, the same people who decorate our building projects. For high end schemes that take in the furnishings as well, our high end interiors service sits alongside this one.
Exterior house painting
Madisons paints the outside of houses: render, brickwork and masonry, woodwork, windows and doors. When the job needs access at height, we arrange the scaffolding, so there is one team and one quotation rather than a decorator and a scaffolder to coordinate.
Preparation comes first outside as well. Paint over loose or damp surfaces fails early, so each surface is checked and prepared before it is coated. Outdoor painting also needs dry surfaces and settled weather, so the programme allows for it.
Whole house painting and decorating
A whole house repaint is one scheduled job. We agree the order of rooms, protect the floors, furniture and the parts of the house you are still using, and set out an honest programme with your quotation. Whether you stay in the house while the work is done is something we talk through at the site visit.
Where the repaint is part of a bigger scheme, our whole house renovation service runs everything as one project.
Small jobs and single rooms
No job is too small to ask about. A single room, a hallway, a staircase or a front door gets the same preparation and the same decorators as a whole house. Craig calls a smaller interior job a refresh with an edge, and that is the standard we work to.
Every job is quoted individually, with one clear price before work begins. Tell us what you have in mind and we will tell you what it needs.
Period properties and sash windows
Older houses need more preparation, and their timber windows need more than most. We paint sash and other timber windows as part of our exterior and interior work, preparing them with the care the age of the house asks for.
Where a window needs restoration rather than redecoration, that is specialist joinery. As on our listed building renovation work, we bring in the right trade and manage them. Check before you start, too: in some conservation areas an Article 4 direction means even painting the front of a house needs planning permission, and a listed home can need consent for changes other houses do not.
Kitchen cabinet spraying
Madisons sprays kitchen cabinets, as an alternative to replacing a kitchen whose units are still sound. Spray finishing is a different skill from brush and roller work, and our decorators include sprayers. We check at the site visit whether your units suit spraying, then give you one clear price.
If the kitchen needs replacing rather than refinishing, our kitchen and bathroom fitting service covers that.
The process
How a painting job runs
Site visit
We respond within 24 hours, then look at the rooms or the outside of the house and talk through the finish you want.
Transparent quote
One clear price before any work begins, written down.
Protection and preparation
Floors and furniture are protected, and surfaces are filled, sanded and mist coated where needed before any finish goes on.
Painting and decorating
Our own decorators apply the finish, brush, roller or spray, to the programme agreed with your quotation.
Snagging and handover
Full snagging before we call a job finished, a 3 month full workmanship warranty, manufacturer warranties on all products and a 12 month touch up service.
Painters and decorators with a builder’s finish
A decorator is judged on the last coat. Madisons works to the standard Craig Bellamy built over 33 years of delivering show units for national housebuilders, where every wall is looked at closely and the same finish has to be repeated plot after plot. The company, established in 2009, still fits out show homes for national housebuilders today, and its decorators bring that discipline into private houses.
“Don’t buy cheap and buy twice: let me deliver you a finish that you only thought was possible in a factory.”
Craig Bellamy, Founder
SMAS accredited · SMSTS site management · First aid trained team
£5m public liability · £10m employers liability · £1m professional indemnity
3 month full workmanship warranty · Manufacturer warranties on all products · 12 month touch up service
Established 2009 · Craig Bellamy, 33 years in the industry
Proof
Painting and decorating work we have delivered
- Cold Norton. The photographs of the Cold Norton renovation show a hallway plastered, painted and lit, and a bedroom reskimmed and painted.
- Brentwood. On the Brentwood extension, the original wrought iron balustrade on the landing was kept and freshly repainted.
Related services
FAQ
Answers from the Madisons team, led by Craig Bellamy, founder and director. Last checked 02/11/2026.
Do you take on painting only jobs?
Yes. Painting and decorating is a service in its own right, not only the last stage of a build, and no job is too small to ask about. A single room, a staircase or a whole house gets the same decorators and the same standard. Tell us what you have in mind and we will quote it.
Do you paint the outside of houses, and arrange the scaffolding?
Yes. Exterior work covers render, brickwork and masonry, woodwork, windows and doors. When the job needs access at height, Madisons arranges the scaffolding, so you deal with one team and get one quotation rather than coordinating a decorator and a scaffolder.
How long does it take to paint a 3 bedroom house?
There is no honest single answer, for a 3 bedroom house or any other. The time depends on the number of rooms, ceilings and woodwork, the condition of the surfaces, how much preparation they need and whether the house is occupied. We set out an honest programme with your quotation, after seeing the house.
What is the difference between a painter and a decorator?
A painter applies paint. A decorator takes the wider job of finishing a room: preparing and making good the surfaces, then applying the right finish to walls, ceilings and woodwork. In practice the two overlap. Madisons’ decorators are our own team, so one team takes a room from bare surface to finished.
Is it okay to cut in one day and paint the next?
It is better not to. Cut in edges dry before the main areas are rolled, and the join can show as a band when light crosses the wall. Cutting in and rolling one wall at a time, while the edge is still wet, avoids it. That is how a careful decorator works.
Can I just paint over old exterior paint?
Sometimes. Paint that is sound, clean and firmly stuck can usually be painted over. Flaking, blistered or chalky paint, damp and algae need dealing with first, or the new coat fails early. We check the surface at the site visit before we say yes.
Are your decorators your own team?
Yes. The decorators are Madisons’ own team, the same people who decorate our building projects to show home standard, and the finish they work to is the one Craig Bellamy has set across 33 years in the industry.
Do you spray kitchen cabinets?
Yes. Kitchen cabinet spraying is something our decorators offer, for units that are still sound but tired. We check at the site visit whether yours suit spraying, then give one clear price. If the kitchen needs replacing instead, our fitting service covers that.
More answers to common questions are on our FAQ page.
Painting and decorating for homes across Essex
Enquiries
Tell us what needs painting
Any room, any house, inside or out. We respond within 24 hours.
Get a quote