This is a wonderful post on creating an inexpensive and glamourous silver leaf dresser courtesy of Jenny at littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com (I have fallen completely in love with her blog).
The initial intention was to purchase a mirrored bedside table or dresser to add a little glam to the bedroom. However, mirrored furniture is really expensive and even the cheapy furniture from Target or Pier One would push the budget of this project over the initial limit.
Jenny found this picture below from House Beautiful, and began to research the possibility of getting mirrored panels cut to fit for a boxy dresser. However, that option also turned out to be pricey... several hundred dollars to cover just one dresser.
She moved onto plan C. Jenny began to explore the option of creating a silver-leafed piece and Googled several images.
She found two bombay chests at HomeGoods that were on clearance for $75 because the paint was chipping. The size and shape were perfect for the room.
Once home, each dresser was lightly sanded over the chipped parts and then given a coat of chocolate brown paint (Ralph Lauren's 'Galvenized'). Once the paint had cured, she coated both dressers with 3-hour Quick Set Gilding Size, available at most art supply stores. Jenny used about a pint between both dressers.
The gilding size acts as the glue that holds on the leaf. It's applied just like a varnish, and after waiting for a specified time, the size becomes tacky and is ready to be gilded.
There are many types of metal leaf. For this project, she used aluminum leaf because it was the brightest silver tone and looked the most to me like mirror (and the bonus is that aluminum is less expensive than silver leaf). A box of 500 5.5" x 5.5" sheets is $40-$50 and was more than enough for these two dressers.
As far as application of the leaf goes, the basic idea is to carefully lay the sheets down with as little folding of the leaf as possible. Then using a soft bristled paint brush, just tap, burnish and rub the leaf down. It gets really easy with practice - you'll feel like a pro after only 4 or 5 sheets.Here are my best tips for gilding:
1. Do this project in the garage or outside if you are working on a large scale (like on furniture). The metal leaf bits get EVERYWHERE.
2. Start with a flat, horizontal surface (like the dresser tops) to get the technique down before you attempt the vertical front or sides.3. Once you've burnish one leaf sheet and are ready for the next, place that next sheet slightly on top of the already burnished leaf. By overlapping the sheets a little, there will be less of a gap/crack and the resulting look will be more seamless.
4. She ended up sort of liking the cracks and gaps in the gilding (it looks like antique mirror to me, with the chocolate brown base peeping through), but if you don't want to see the "imperfections" just use a bit of extra leaf and rub it into the gap or crack with your finger and the size will quickly pick up the leaf bits
5. Jenny was shocked at how resilient the gilded surface was after the size had fully dried. The client opted not to seal the finish because she wanted it to gently wear over time, but it would be easy to apply some Wipe On Poly to protect and seal the gilding.
The process looks more intimidating than it really is.
They used vintage lucite knobs from eBay as a final touch.
