Northern Rose and Silver leaf

I have been trailing sparks of silver all around the house today. There are flakes in the cracks in the floorboards and a dusting of glitter down the stairs. I have been putting some finishing touches to the piece of furniture I am transforming using silver leaf and shiny fragments are following me around.

It started with this old Queen Anne style dresser which was an ugly brown.

I experimented a bit with different shades of blue, but decided the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Louis blue straight out of the tin was perfect. A velvety powdery blue.

It reminded me of the painting 'Blue Dancers' by Degas.

Inside the drawers is another story! I hand mixed a pink that looks like strawberry ice cream and this gives the drawers a little surprise of colour, what Sloan calls a ‘quiet riot.’ Restrained on the outside but with a bright interior. Just like me!

The drawers were then  lined with Graham and Brown ‘NorthernRose.’ This is their wallpaper of the year and you can see why. The deepest richest blue, the purest pink roses and a rococo swirl of silver, which brings me back to special effects on the exterior of the dresser.

I have painted the handles with ‘Painters Touch’ by Rustoleum. This is a water based paint that will stick to metal, wood, paper and card. This has transformed the dull brass to a vintage silver.

Finally before waxing I applied three or four leaves of aluminium to the two ornamental side pieces and the top of the drawers. I could have used the silver paint, but I wanted to create a decadent silvering effect reminiscent of old mirrors. I think it’s worked beautifully. 

A coat of dark wax gives it an antiqued finish. I love the imperfection with the cracked edges and little bits of blue peeking through.

The silver was  a bit too bright so I added a coat of dark wax to that too which toned it down and gave it a faded decadence.

Now I just need to brush up all the silvery remnants.