Kensington Painters

How a Kensington job actually runs

Recent Eastern Suburbs work

Photos, scope of works and the Dulux products used on recent heritage, terrace and apartment jobs in the Eastern Suburbs:

Queens Park · Full interior & exterior repaint

Queens Park Renovation

A heritage sandstone cottage in Queens Park, painted inside and out. The scope ran from freshly plastered new rooms to character-filled existing spaces, including vaulted ceilings with painted white beams, an open-plan kitchen and living zone, and the sandstone exterior with its classic white picket fence.

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Paddington · Full interior & exterior repaint

Union Street

A Victorian terrace with heritage cornicing, timber staircases with turned balusters, ornate fireplaces and French doors. The exterior — rendered face, cast iron lacework balcony, window surrounds, columns and front fence — was repainted in the same project.

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Elizabeth Bay · Full interior repaint

Billyard Avenue

A waterfront apartment with sweeping views across the bay. Walls, ceilings, joinery, kitchen cabinetry and hallways were prepared and repainted, with walls and ceilings in Dulux Wash&Wear® Low Sheen.

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See all our projects →

How we quote and schedule a Kensington job

We also paint in nearby Randwick, Coogee and Maroubra.

What painting in Kensington actually involves

Kensington is a ten-minute drive from our base in Coogee and we are in the suburb most weeks. It is not a beach suburb and it should not be quoted like one: the surf is three to four kilometres away, so salt is a minor factor here. What wears paint out in Kensington is the sun on north- and west-facing walls, the damp on shaded south walls, and simple age — a lot of the housing is more than a century old and has been painted many times. Realistically that gives you 10–12 years on render and brick and closer to 7–10 on timber trim between exterior repaints — longer than we would promise on Arden Street in Coogee.

Federation homes on the quieter streets

The streets between Anzac Parade and the racecourse — Todman Avenue, Doncaster Avenue and the ones running off them — are full of Federation bungalows and semis with the original timber fretwork, verandah posts, tuck-pointed face brick and roughcast gables. These are brush jobs. The detail is what takes the time, and it is also what makes the house look right when it is done properly. Anything painted before 1970 we treat as carrying lead in the old coats and prepare it lead-safe under AS 4361.2, which means contained sanding and a proper clean-up rather than dry-scraping flakes into the garden. Randwick Council has heritage conservation areas covering parts of Kensington — the Todman Avenue and Doncaster Avenue pocket by the racecourse among them — so if you are changing the external colour scheme on an older home it is worth a quick check with council before you commit.

The Anzac Parade apartment strip

Along Anzac Parade and around the light rail stops the suburb changes completely: inter-war walk-ups, 1960s and 70s red-brick blocks, and the newer apartment buildings that have gone up near UNSW. This is strata work — stairwells, common hallways, balcony soffits, rendered street facades — and it comes with committee approvals, resident notices and a compliance pack rather than a chat over the fence. Many of these blocks have never had their common areas repainted since they were built, and the difference a fresh stairwell makes to how a building shows to buyers and tenants is out of all proportion to the cost.

Investment properties near UNSW

Kensington has one of the highest shares of rental housing in the east because of the university, and a large part of our work here is turnaround repaints between tenancies. The big turnover is January–February before Term 1, with smaller ones in late May before Term 2 and early September before Term 3 — UNSW runs three terms, not semesters — so if you know a lease is ending, book before the term break rather than the week the tenants move out. We use hard-wearing, washable whites that re-let well and can be touched up cleanly next time, and a standard two-bedroom unit interior is a matter of days. If you manage several properties in the suburb we can put them on a rolling schedule.

What that means for your quote

A Kensington quote should be honest about which of these three jobs your property is. A Federation exterior is priced on the brush hours in the detail and the condition of the old timber, not the wall area, so expect it toward the upper end of the $8,000–$25,000+ exterior range. A rental interior refresh sits near the bottom of the $6,000–$12,000 interior range. Our guide to comparing painting quotes explains what a straight quote looks like, the heritage painting guide covers lead-safe prep and conservation-area rules in more depth, and the strata painting guide is written for the Anzac Parade blocks.

Painting in Kensington — common questions

How much does it cost to paint a house in Kensington?

A single room is $600-$1,500 and a full 3-bed interior is $6,000-$12,000. A full exterior runs $8,000-$25,000+ depending on the condition of the render and timberwork. Federation-era detail — cornices, picture rails, fretwork — adds brush hours, which is the main thing that pushes a Kensington quote up.

My Kensington semi is a Federation home — does that change how you paint it?

Yes. Original plaster and old timberwork need more prep than modern surfaces, and the detail work is done by brush, not spray. Anything pre-1970 we treat as likely to have lead in the old coats and follow lead-safe practice under AS 4361.2 — contained sanding, proper cleanup, no dry-scraping old paint into your garden.

Can you repaint my Kensington rental between tenants?

That's regular work for us this close to UNSW. We schedule to your vacancy window, use hard-wearing washable whites that suit re-letting, and a standard unit or small house interior is a matter of days, not weeks. We also handle common areas in the small strata blocks around the suburb — quote goes to the committee, work is scheduled around residents.

Is Proview Painting licensed and insured to work in Kensington?

Yes — NSW painter licence 254277C, fully insured with public liability and workers comp. We've been painting Sydney's east since 2004 and we're Dulux Accredited. Every job comes with a 5-year written workmanship guarantee — on paper, not a handshake.

Is Kensington close enough to the beach to need coastal paint?

Not really. Kensington sits three to four kilometres back from the surf, so salt is a minor factor compared with Coogee or Maroubra. A premium exterior acrylic system such as Dulux Weathershield over proper preparation is the right specification here — the enemies are UV on the north and west walls and damp on the shaded south side, not salt. Expect 10–12 years between exterior repaints on render and brick, longer than a beachfront home.

Do heritage rules apply to my Kensington house?

They can. Randwick Council has heritage conservation areas covering parts of Kensington, and some individual properties are listed. Interior painting is never affected, but changing the external colour scheme on a contributory Federation home can require council sign-off. It is a quick check with Randwick Council before you commit, and far cheaper than repainting a facade twice.

Do you paint the common areas of Anzac Parade apartment blocks?

Yes. We repaint common property for owners corporations and strata managers with a committee-ready quote and the full compliance pack — NSW licence 254277C, insurance certificates and a site-specific SWMS. Residents get written notice and a day-by-day sequence, balconies are cleared in rotation and internal common areas get a low-odour system.

What white do you use for a rental repaint near UNSW?

Mostly Dulux Wash&Wear Low Sheen on the walls, in a hard-wearing white such as Natural White or Antique White USA that re-lets well and can be touched up cleanly next time, with a durable enamel on doors and architraves.

Can we stay in our Kensington home while it's repainted?

Yes — you don't need to move out. Interiors are done room by room in a sequence agreed with you before we start, furniture is moved to the centre of each room and covered, floors are sheeted, and we clean up before moving on.

See the standard of finish on a nearby job — Queens Park residence — or read our Sydney painting cost guide. Strata block? Our strata painters page covers common property, the compliance pack and committee-ready quotes.