Gilding

Amy Howard At Home gilding products allows you to apply gold leaf or silver leaf to add accents to furniture and decorative elements.

Start here or click the button above for the printable pdf version of the Gilding How To Brochure! 

Gilding in gold or silver leaf can add beautiful detail to any piece of furniture or cabinetry. You can also gild an entire piece of furniture or accessory item.

STEP 1

The gold and silver leaf come in booklets with a binding. You can cut your piece of gold leaf to the size you need or use the whole piece for large areas.  

STEP 2

Optional- Use masking tape to section off the area of the piece you want to gild if necessary.

STEP 3

Next is the gilding size, which is what the leafing will stick too. Size is water soluble so you can brush it on with any paint brush. Be sure to completely cover every bit of what you want the leaf to stick too. 

Step 4

Let the size dry until clear and all of the milky color is gone. (appr. 10 minutes) 

*tip-work somewhere where there isn’t air blowing around, the gold leaf is light and can be difficult to use outside or in a windy space.

STEP 5

Lay your leaf booklet flat on your hand and fold back the top sheet of tissue paper to reveal the gold or silver leaf. 

STEP 6

With one hand, pinch the binding and with the other lightly pinch the loose end of the booklet

STEP 7

Starting on the far left, flip the entire booklet down onto the area where you have applied the size. Pressing the tissue on the  back of the booklet rub or lightly burnish it and then lift the booklet off. 

STEP 8

Continue this process from left to right being sure to slightly overlap the end of the previous piece, until you have covered the area you want gilded.

*Once gold leaf is down do not try pulling it up to reposition it. If there is a missed area, simply lay another sheet on top of the missing area. It will stick to the exposed gilding size. 

STEP 9

Take a clean dry brush and brush off the excess 

Step 10

Optional - you can use steel wool to age and weather the gold or silver leaf. 

STEP 11

We recommend sealing your finished product with waxes or Clear lacquer spray.

Enjoy!!