It is becoming increasingly popular to spruce up and beautify old furniture instead of simply throwing it away. And in fact, such homemade pieces of furniture are much better than newly purchased ones and also much cheaper. Apart from the fact that after the DIY project you will feel like you have really bought a new piece of furniture, you will also be brimming with pride and can hardly wait to show everyone your work. There are a variety of ways to upgrade cabinets, tables, chairs, chests of drawers and other pieces of furniture. Today we would like to introduce you to the variant with gold leaf and explain to you how you can embellish pieces of furniture with this simple, yet beautiful material.
Old vintage furniture in particular works with thisGold leaf accentbeautiful and above all authentic. Since in earlier times it was not uncommon for the nobility to decorate furniture and other things with gold, the self-made gold furniture looks as if it really comes from another era and as if the colors had simply peeled off over the centuries. Nevertheless, more modern pieces of furniture are also perfect for this type of design. Before you decide to throw away old furniture, try out the technique we would like to introduce to you. Most likely, you will fall in love again after beautifying the furniture. And what do you have to lose? If you ultimately don't like it, you can always throw the old piece away.
Since you need a little practice to use gold leaf successfully, we recommend not trying out the technique on the selected piece of furniture straight away, but experimenting somewhere else first. For this you can use other useless furniture or a simple board. But try to find an element that is similar in surface finish to the actual piece of furniture you want to spruce up. Because on a smooth, painted surface, for example, it works differently than on an uneven and rough one. Once you get the hang of it, you can embellish any other furniture and create unique pieces.
Spice up old pieces of furniture – instructions with gold leaf
If you want to upgrade cabinets etc. by using gold leaf, you will of course need gold leaf. But a special glue is also necessary. This is used to fix the gold leaf on the furniture. You should also get a wide brush. You can smooth out the gold better with a second brush. Once you have acquired these things, you can also spice up old cupboards or beautify other furniture. If this is your first time doing this, as I said, try it on something else first. A closet door is great.
Think about where you want the gold leaf. Then coat these areas with the glue. Let it dry for a while until it is tacky but not completely dry. Then place the gold leaf on top and smooth it out nicely either with a dry brush or with your fingers. Of course you can also create a rougher surface with the gold. Just experiment a little in advance to see what's possible. Now let the gold leaf or glue dry completely.
If you wish, you can also seal the gold leaf with a varnish after embellishing the furniture. This is particularly advantageous if the piece of furniture is used frequently and is subject to strain. Without varnish the surface is more sensitive. However, many people are of the opinion that the gold shine is dampened by varnish. For this reason, you should simply decide for yourself which you like better. You can also just try this out on your practice element.
Beautify new and old furniture
If you don't just want to add accents, but also want to completely repaint the piece of furniture, you should start with that first and apply the gold leaf at the end. In this example, a black cabinet was chosen. This first receives a white base color and then some blue-gray accents, which are applied as soon as the white paint has dried. If you also want to use several colors, try to create fairly even transitions. This doesn't have to be perfect as you will then glue the gold leaf over it.
Of course, not only old pieces of furniture can be chosen if youcraft with gold leafwant. New pieces are also often decorated in this way. You can also beautify Ikea furniture, among other things. The example with the bedside cabinet is a model from Ikea.
Glue cupboards – ideas for design
Of course, white doesn't have to be the main color. Any other colors are also possible, as you can see from our many examples. Whether red, pink, blue or black doesn't matter, because the result will look great with every color. Ombre effects are particularly interesting. When decorating furniture with gold leaf, try to use colors that match and perfectly complement the rest of your decor.
If you use gold leaf for crafts, you can use it in a variety of ways. For example, instead of designing any smooth areas of the cabinets like the ideas above, you can also highlight ornaments and decorations with the gold leaf, if there are any. Vintage furniture in particular is usually equipped with such elements.
Instead of being used as an accent, gold leaf can also be used as the main color when embellishing furniture. While gold leaf is usually used to create a worn (shabby chic) look, you can instead simply buy more gold leaf and cover the entire piece of furniture with it. Or you can let the original color peek through here and there like in the example above, where the cabinet doors are made entirely of gold and the base of the dresser has retained its original color.
Inspirations with gold leaf to imitate
Of course, you can also spice up any other piece of furniture. A simple table can become a special eye-catcher if you highlight the table top with gold leaf. So if your dining table is no longer the prettiest and urgently needs a new color, you now have the opportunity to try out this project. And while you're at it, add a few gold accents to the chairs so that they match the table. For shelves, you can decorate the inside back wall with gold leaf.
As you can see, the possibilities are numerous and the type of furniture doesn't matter. From large pieces of furniture such as tables or chests of drawers to coffee tables, headboards and chairs to small models such as side tables or bedside cabinets, you can find a beautiful design for everything that will let every room shine in a new light.
Do you really want that?DIY Ideastry? Then you can also take a look at the following inspiration, which you can use as a template for your closet. By the way, you can also use copper foil instead of gold leaf as in the example above if you prefer to get a reddish metallic tone.
