I started by cleaning this piece well with Dixie Belle White Lightning. The original finish was fairly smooth, so I also gave it a coat of Dixie Belle Slick Stick, a gripping primer.

With a clean surface to start with, next was two coats of Dixie Belle Caviar, a nice, true, black. I got great coverage over the white primer in two coats of Caviar. I knew other than the gold leaf, this would be a simple finish underneath, so I sealed my paint with Dixie Belle Gator Hide. I did tint the Gator Hide with just a bit of Caviar paint to help prevent streaking over the dark black paint. Tinting clear coat is especially helpful over the darkest and lightest colors, whites, blacks, navy, etc.

We wanted a random look with the gold leaf. I started in an upper corner and carried it down in a diagonal using Mod Podge as my adhesive. Let it get a bit tacky, then lay the leaf, tearing the edges so it doesn't lay in a perfect square. The leaf needed more so I also used the Imperial Damask stencil by Redesign By Prima.

I replaced the two pulls I was missing with gold pulls from Hobby Lobby, added a gold drapery tassel, and this was ready to stage! One of my favorite pieces for how well it photographed.

My favorite custom orders are when a customer gives me a color and then sets me free. I can usually envision a piece from there. At first we were looking at black and copper, but that changed to gold.