Care home decorating is a discipline of its own. The buildings are occupied. Residents live in them. Staff schedules don't bend around contractors, and the fabric of the building - listed or otherwise - has to be respected at every stage. Getting it wrong is not an option.
GME holds two care home programmes that show how that responsibility plays out in practice.
The first is The Chocolate Works in York, a flagship Care UK care home set inside a converted part of the original Rowntree's confectionery factory. A listed building, full of history, with 42 bedrooms - each individually styled to reflect the character of one of York's most treasured historic buildings. GME was asked to redecorate all 42, one bedroom per day, with residents in place and the home continuing to operate around the works.
The second is a 12-year maintenance contract with Leeds Independent Living, covering 11 LiLAC (Low-Impact Living Affordable Community) care sites across Leeds. The scope is varied: external painting, communal areas, high-ceiling corridors that need specialist lift equipment, and Rainbow House - a children's respite home that closes every three years for a full redecoration and has to be turned around in one and a half weeks.
Two very different projects, one shared standard. Decoration delivered around the people who live, recover and are looked after in these buildings.
A 42-bedroom listed-building care home renovation in York, plus a 12-year multi-site maintenance contract across 11 LiLAC care sites in Leeds.

Care UK's residents could not be uprooted, and the listed fabric of the building demanded respect throughout. The brief was clear: one bedroom prepped, painted and handed back every day, to keep Care UK's refurbishment schedule on track without disrupting daily life in the home.
Fire safety regulations in a live care environment meant doors could not be propped open. Solvent-based paints were off the table completely. GME specified water-based acrylics throughout - low odour, fast drying, and the right product for a building where residents cannot be asked to put up with fumes or wait for rooms to air out.
One room prepped, painted and handed back. Every day. No slippage. Superior finish throughout.
The LiLAC programme is long-term relationship work. Across 11 sites, GME sequences external painting, communal areas and corridor refurbishment so the day-to-day running of each home is disrupted as little as possible. High-ceiling corridors are tackled with specialist lift equipment; external work is timed around the weather and each building's calendar.
The most time-pressured element is Rainbow House. When the respite home closes for its triennial redecoration, the clock starts immediately - families relying on that service are waiting for it to come back. GME turns it around in one and a half weeks. That doesn't happen by accident: the programme is planned well in advance of the closure, materials staged, team briefed, sequence confirmed. Every day is accounted for before GME arrives on site.
Both projects come back to the same principle. Decoration in a care environment is shaped by where and how it sits in the building. Product selection, working hours, dust and odour control, fire safety - every decision is taken with the residents in mind first. That's what allows the team to keep pace without the standard of finish dropping, whether the window is one day per bedroom or one and a half weeks for a full respite home.
At The Chocolate Works, all 42 bedrooms were completed on schedule, to a superior finish, with no disruption to residents. Care UK have since extended the relationship into ongoing pricing work across their wider programme.
At LiLAC, the 12-year contract continues to run on consistent delivery across a complex multi-site estate. Rainbow House is turned around to programme every cycle, ready for the families who depend on it. The standard of finish doesn't drop because the window is short - that's a non-negotiable for GME and for the people these buildings serve.
Care home decorating done properly is not just about the painting. It's about working in a space where people live, recover and are looked after. That's what shapes every decision GME makes, from product selection to the order the team works through a building.


















Askham Bryan College

Redecorating student accommodation, covering 63 bedrooms, kitchens and corridors, delivered to a high-quality finish with real-condition results.
Bannatyne Health Clubs

National refresh of health club interiors and exteriors, completed out-of-hours with zero disruption to members.
Bradford student accommodation

Using a phased approach on the full redecoration of a 40-bedroom student block - to a tight programme.
Carlton Academy

Stripping back varnish entirely and redecorating a school from scratch, during half-term.
Chocolate Works & LiLAC - Care Home Decorating

Two care home decorating programmes - 42 bedrooms at a listed York landmark and 12 years of maintenance across 11 LiLAC sites in Leeds.
Doncaster Royal Infirmary

Enhancing clinical environments across a busy NHS hospital with vibrant, safe finishes and minimal disruption.
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Leeds City Centre
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Year-long phased decoration programme across a full-service city-centre hotel.
Health Clinic Wakefield

Delivering sensitive refurbishment at a five-storey community clinic while supporting day-to-day operations.
iQ Huddersfield
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350-bedroom student accommodation redecoration in a six-week summer window.
Kirk Balk Academy

Consistently delivering a long-term decorating contract across an 11-school estate.
Leeds General Infirmary - NHS Hospital Decorating Programme

A circa 10-year decorating and refurbishment programme across the older parts of Leeds General Infirmary, delivered around a live hospital.
New Lodge Housing Estate

Improving 250 council homes for Berneslai Homes with coordinated redecoration and tenant-first delivery.
Springwell School

We developed a decorating specification that balanced the right aesthetic with the practical resilience the setting required.
The Green, University of Bradford

Seventy-five bedrooms delivered in two-and-a-half weeks against a three-week deadline.
Ulster Yarns

Refurbishing a 3,600 sq ft factory with specialist coatings and minimal disruption to ongoing textile operations.
University of Huddersfield

Transforming learning and heritage spaces across a major university campus with smart, coordinated delivery.
Village Hotels - Leeds North and Wirral

Phased redecoration of 99 bedrooms and communal areas across two sites,

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