Preparing a Nursery for Opening Day

Much of our work is in education settings, and they are not the same as a commercial fit-out. Two things make them different: the standard the space is judged against, and the fact that the opening date genuinely cannot move.

Everything at child height gets treated differently

An office is cleaned so it looks right. A nursery is cleaned so that a two-year-old can put their hands on any surface in the room and their mouth on most of them.

In practice that means the lower half of every room gets a different level of attention than it would anywhere else. Skirting, radiator covers, the underside of tables, chair legs, door handles at child height, the inside of low cupboards, window reveals a child can reach from the floor. All of it sanitised, not just wiped over.

Washrooms are taken back properly rather than surface-cleaned. Child-height sinks, low-level WCs, grab rails, splashbacks, and the grout around all of it.

Furniture usually arrives before we finish

This is normal on nursery fit-outs and it changes how the job runs. Furniture gets delivered to a room that still has construction dust in it, often still wrapped, often stacked in the middle of the floor.

We work around it in stages — clean what we can reach, move through as items are unwrapped and positioned, then come back for the floor underneath. It is slower than an empty room, which is why we would rather see the delivery schedule at the quote stage than find out on the day.

If you can give us the space before the furniture lands, the job is faster and cheaper. If you cannot, that is fine, but tell us early.

The deadline is real

An office fit-out that runs two days late is an inconvenience. A nursery that is not ready cannot open, and the parents have already arranged their childcare.

We plan education jobs backwards from the opening date rather than forwards from when the builders finish, because those two dates are rarely the same. If the build overruns — and it often does — we would rather work a weekend or overnight than hand back a space that is not ready.

Before inspection

The final walk-through matters more here than anywhere else. We go round with whoever is responsible for signing the setting off, room by room, and anything flagged gets dealt with before we leave.

Planning an opening? Talk to us early, even if the build is nowhere near finished. Knowing the date is enough for us to work around.