Silver and Gold Leaf Roundup

Silver and gold brighten up the holiday season, but they can be in place throughout the entire year, too. Here, we look at silver and gold leafing on walls, ceilings, and decorations for the home.

• 1 An art installation by James Lee Byars. photo courtesy of Michael Werner Gallery, New York and Cologne, and the Estate of James Lee Byars
• 2 Domino via Design Crisis
• 3 A silver leaf version of the Eames' LTR occasional table
• 4 From a gold leaf accent wall how-to at HGTV
• 5 Silver leaf pendant lamp at Haysom Lighting (in the UK)

If you like the look and want to attempt it yourself, check out the helpful how-to at Gilded Planet. It's far from cheap, but there are also less expensive imitations of gold and silver, copper, or aluminum leaf available.

Comments (5)

I painted a little wall (it looks like a chimney should go there but it isn't) copper in my apartment and it looks amazing. The only thing is I wouldn't do it if I had kids or pets or too many curious adults. It shows everything on it. Which is fine since I never touch it, but if people did it would take an insane amount of maintenance.

It does though bring a wonderful level of life to the whole place.

Yikes. That wall is a bit ... much.

the lamp looks stunning....

the fourth pic is really...... hummmmmm...... interesting??

Instead of going for something as permanent as a wall (or ceiling), i've seen huge decoration pieces that are massive and get the metal leaf theme through.... I specially remember a really big decorative plate, like 3 or 4 feet wide in gold leaf.. it was beautiful.... i've also seen a really chunky crucifix and a wide mirror frame...

all these get the expansive sense of metal leaf in more versatile pieces....

I can't say I like any of these pics. Gold leaf looks great on contoured or uneven surfaces -- especially when there's a light source nearby to show reflections -- but on a flat surface it tends to just look like badly done, dull DIY. There are other ways to do metallic or glitz that look classier.

Wall sconces, mirrors, finials, headboards, molding, baseboards, really ornate small furniture . . . fine! Give me leaf! Flat table surface? Eh . . .