Before the first coat
Decoration within a shared building
The room scheme is only part of a flat’s decorating brief. Shared entrances, responsibility for windows and the route for materials should be resolved alongside the colours and finishes.
Local buildings, different responsibilities
The Holly Lodge appraisal describes mansion blocks on the eastern side of the estate. Camden also records early twentieth-century mansion flats at Lissenden Gardens in Dartmouth Park. These sources explain the building types, but do not identify the terms of an individual lease. Establish responsibility for each surface with the freeholder or managing agent before including shared or external elements.
Sources: Camden: Holly Lodge Estate appraisal; Camden: Dartmouth Park appraisal
Set the boundary of the interior work
List the rooms, ceilings and joinery in the private scope. Clarify the entrance door’s two faces, internal window surfaces and anything opening onto a communal route. If a common hallway or external window treatment is proposed, identify its approval and specification separately. Do not assume that permission to decorate a flat extends to the whole window or entrance.
Make occupation part of the programme
Explain whether residents will remain at home and which rooms must stay accessible. Agree protection for shared floors, arrangements for keys and the movement of furniture and materials. Supply the building’s current working and delivery instructions. These details help define a workable sequence without promising a duration before the scope has been assessed.
Check samples in the flat
Compare wall and joinery samples with the flooring and fittings that are staying, using the flat’s normal daylight and evening lighting. Record products and sheen as well as colour. Keep the specification accessible for both the person commissioning the work and anyone approving shared elements. The final record should distinguish decoration completed within the flat from any separate building works.
Your Highgate project
Let’s put your
project into words.
From the first room to the external joinery, tell us what needs attention and what you would like to retain.
Let’s discuss the work
Include the address, current condition and any access arrangements.