Artist Décor was built on a simple idea: wallpapering and timber finishing are specialist trades, not add-ons to a paint job. Getting them right takes years most painters never spend.
Germany
The training
That standard starts in Germany, where Kai Schluessler began his painting apprenticeship at 19. His practical and theoretical results were outstanding, strong enough to complete the standard three-year qualification in two — followed by 14 months of full-time study to become a certified Master Craftsman, a formal trade qualification equivalent to NZQA Level 7.
The years that followed were spent perfecting wallpapering and specialist surface techniques with his first employer, then deepening that knowledge further at Frescolori, a marble plastering manufacturer in Bocholt, Germany — work that meant mastering an unusually wide range of wall surfaces and finishes before ever picking up a brush in New Zealand.
New Zealand
2015
Kai brought that training to New Zealand in 2015, joining Paul Schirnack Decorating Ltd — now known as Sensation Painters — as foreman. The company was named New Zealand Master Painter of the Year that same year, sharpening Kai's craft against local conditions, materials, and the standards of the industry here.
Auckland
January 2019
In January 2019, Kai established Artist Décor — built specifically around the two disciplines most NZ decorators don't specialise in at all: wallpapering and timber finishing, with painting offered as a complementary third service. What started as one craftsman's standard has since become a small team built around the same principle: do the two hardest finishes properly, or don't do them at all.
