A centre built on office space
The skyline around East and West Croydon stations still owes a great deal to the office boom of the 1960s and 1970s. No. 1 Croydon, completed in 1970, is the best-known example, and plenty of floors in buildings of that era have been refitted again and again. Every refit leaves something behind: patched partition lines, filled fixing holes, ceiling grids that no longer quite match and corridors worn by years of furniture moves.
Office painting is our main service, and repainting a let floor usually means working when the tenants are away. Evenings and weekends can be arranged by agreement, or a floor can be taken in sections while people carry on working in the rest. Shared lifts, lobbies and fire routes are kept clear and tidy throughout.
So many flats, so many tenancies
Across the borough, 39.8% of homes are flats and 25.8% are privately rented, according to the 2021 Census. That shapes much of the decorating work in Croydon. Landlords and letting agents often need a flat freshened up quickly between one tenant leaving and the next moving in, with clean neutral walls, marks and stains sealed over and tired woodwork brought back to white.
Purpose-built blocks bring their own job: the shared hallways, stairwells and entrance lobbies that every resident walks through. Deliveries, bikes and removals take their toll on these walls, so a hard-wearing, wipeable finish makes sense, and anti-vandal coatings are worth considering for entrances that attract damage or graffiti.
Purley Way, North End and the Whitgift Centre
The A23 Purley Way is lined with retail parks, trade counters, warehouses and industrial units. These buildings tend to have big plain walls and high ceilings, which suit airless spraying once the space is cleared and masked. Nearer the middle of town, the Whitgift Centre, opened in 1969, and the North End shopping street create a different kind of work: sales floors, stockrooms and frontages decorated around trading hours. Our Croydon commercial decorators page covers this side in more depth.
Older Croydon is still there
It is easy to picture Croydon as all concrete, but the town has several conservation areas, among them Central Croydon, Church Street, Chatsworth Road, The Waldrons and the Webb Estate, and roughly 149 listed buildings close to the centre. Before changing the colour or look of an exterior in one of these places, it is wise to check with Croydon Council. Indoors, Victorian and Edwardian houses here often have high ceilings, picture rails and panelled doors that reward careful preparation.
Up the hills to Selsdon and Coombe
Further south the land rises sharply. Selsdon and Coombe sit on hilly ground, with larger houses on sloping plots and long drives. Slopes make ladder and tower positions harder to plan on exterior work, so access is one of the first things we look at when visiting. Inside, these family homes often want a joined-up redecoration of hall, stairs and landing, bedrooms and woodwork.
Colours that work in flats and offices
In rented flats, soft whites and pale warm neutrals help rooms look bigger in photos and suit most tenants’ furniture. In offices, many businesses choose a calm main colour with a stronger accent on one wall in reception or a meeting room. Corridors and lift lobbies benefit from a darker or more practical shade on lower walls, where trolleys and bags rub. We can talk through what has worked in similar spaces and how each finish will clean.
Asking for a quote
Croydon is inside our working area, which reaches up to 40 miles from our base in Swanley. When you get in touch, mention parking, loading bays and how the building is accessed, especially for town-centre offices near the stations and the Tramlink. A postcode, a rough list of rooms and a few photos are enough to start. Call Eric on 07872 324935 or use the form on this page.