Monday, December 3, 2012

Silver Leaf Side Chair

love silver leaf furniture. It can't be that hard to do if it's all over the web... I acquired a black side chair from an old roommate. The paint was chipping all over. It seemed like a prime choice to test my silver leafing skills on.

 
This is a picture of the chair before the paint started chipping
 

 
 
I sanded the areas where the paint was chipping then I wiped down the chair with a damp cloth. I primed the entire surface with primer.
 

 
Once that dried I used an adhesive spray all over the chair . It gets tacky almost immediately so you'll be able to apply the silverleaf right away. I used Silver Leaf  but you can get Metal Leaf, Gold Leaf, etc... I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby but I've also purchased it off Amazon.
 
 
 
 



The silver leaf pieces are separated by wax paper. They crumble easily so applying them using the wax paper is convenient. After placing the first piece I rubbed a foam brush over the back side of the wax paper then peeled the wax paper off. The silver leaf stuck to the adhesive. I placed each piece slightly over the other. I used a paint brush to push the crumbled pieces into the cracks that the silver leaf didn't adhere to. After I finished putting the silver on the entire chair I sprayed it with a metal leaf sealer that I picked up from an art store and let it sit for 36 hours. I thought I was done...then my sister sat in the chair and got silver on the back of her shirt. So, I'm going to paint a coat of polyurethane sealer over it. I read online that a lot of people don't seal their projects because they like the antiqued look when pieces flake off. Unfortunately, I did a high traffic piece so I'll most definitely need to use a sealer.
 
 
 
 
 

 
**NOTE: The silver flakes get everywhere so make sure you are outside or on a tile/wood surface that will be easy to sweep when you are done.
 


 
 
 
 

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