Paint is usually the go-to choice when you want to quickly transform an old piece of furniture. And with good reason — it's an inexpensive and quick solution. But if you're interested in mega-drama and are willing to invest a bit more time, then turn your attention to gilding.
Gilding is a technique where gold, silver or another fine metal sheet is adhered to a surface. The process is trickier than paint in that great care needs to be taken to prepare the workroom so there is no air movement, which can cause problems when separating and adhering the delicate metal sheets. But overall, it's a fairly easy process that can produce expensive-looking results, the perfect project to tackle over the weekend. For one chair, you can expect to spend around $50-$100.
For the full set of instructions along with detailed photographs, visit Fresh Home Ideas.
(Images: Fresh Home Ideas)
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I think I need to try this.
I'm SO doing this!
Now THAT is a way to catch the light.
I have the stuff to do this on a beatup old rattan chair. Guess I know what I will be doing this weekend! :)
I did this with a chair I found on the street. I used gold and it looks incredible! It's become the world's most opulent cat chair. I wish I could post photos here.
It took longer than I expected and was quite messy as that guiding foil goes everywhere. I think I cost around $50 all in.
My husband wants to do it to our bedroom wall, so I will be testing it out this weekend.
I thought I really wanted to do this (in silver) to a wooden stool, but I kept putting it off because of the time and mess factor. Eventually I got tired of waiting and picked up Rustoleum Metallic Spray in silver. It was incredibly quick and easy, and it got excellent coverage. I suspect it's also more durable than actual gilding. Initially I was just doing it as a temporary solution, but it looks fantastic (in my opinion) and I'll never upgrade the stool to actual gilding. Might be worth trying the $5 solution to see if it gets you where you want.
On second thought, I might have used the chrome. Either way, after seeing how great the stool looked, I got a little trigger-happy and did some bookends and a plant pot, too!
I will do this to most of my furniture (well, atleast in my dreams ;) )
It is so easy, I do it all the time on my clay and wood sculptures. It's especially nice if your furniture needs some dimension!
Anything gilded is fabulous! Fabulous & Baroque has an abundance of gilded furniture for your viewing pleasure!