How To Apply Gold Leaf To Your Furniture
2 Materials
$45
2 Hours
Medium
Black furniture can be so dramatic in the right space, especially if you accent it with gold. While gold leaf is nothing new, it’s still my go to when I want to add a bit of glam to furniture and home decor.
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Anytime you’re applying gold leaf, the surface needs to sealed before starting. Chalky Type paints are porous and glue will not adhere well with that surface. I always use a polycrylic type sealer first.
I like to use Speedball Metal Leaf adhesive on my furniture.
Apply a thin coat of the Metal Leaf Adhesive to the sealed surface you want to apply it to. You will notice the the glue is white with a blue hue. You will need to allow the glue to become tacky before applying the gold leaf. This will take a few minutes.
Gentle apply the gold leaf after the glue has become tacky to the touch. Refer back to video for full instructions.
After the application of gold leaf, I sealed it with Modern Masters Master Clear. This protects the metal leaf from oxidizing and protects the shine. For this look, I wanted it to be a bit aged, so the application of glue was not applied in a consistent fashion which resulted in an uneven distribution of the gold leaf. It almost looks distressed. I love it!
The finished product is unbelievably beautiful if you're into the metallic look. Thanks for stopping in. Happy Painting!
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
I just love this! I was planning on painting my hutch with black chalk paint and doing gold leaf a bit more random on the legs, kind of abstract I’d say. After reading about this however, I see that you can’t really use gold leaf over the chalk paint so this may be a bit harder than I thought to add the polycrylic first and then the leaf in a random pattern. I’m not really sure who actually did this cabinet I posted but the leaf is the look I’m going for. Any suggestions for applying the polycrylic beforehand? Thanks!