Gilding is so French!

 The antique Venetian mirror that I found on vacation has a gilded motif, and that

brought about the thinking of incorporating some gold accents on my French chairs.

Horchow Chair from Pinterest

 This lovely cane back chair with blue-grey paint and gilded accents captured the essence of what I hoped my silvery grey chairs could aspire to....although my chairs are not as fancy,  it is the "essence" that was the plan. Adding some dimension with stain over the cane backs, and then gilding the decorative details became an afternoon's project.

 Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint line has added gilding wax to the lineup, and it comes in five metallic shades, two of which are gold colors. I went with "Bright Gold" after comparing the two.  

This gilding wax will complement any furniture, so start thinking what you can gild!

 Gilding with gilding wax is much easier and quicker than gilding the old school way using gold leaf and sizing.  Simply rub on or paint on the gilding wax, using your fingertip or a small stiff paint brush, like the one I used. After squeezing a bit of gold wax onto a piece of wax paper, I traced around the grooves of the chair using the brush, as well as the floral detail on the chair back.

 One tip I have when using gilding wax and a brush, is to dip the edges of the brush into a bit of mineral spirits, then into the gilding wax, and then apply to the surface.  It is the same methodology of dipping a paint brush into water when painting watercolors.  It glides right over the surface, leaving a gilded stripe in its path.

After gilding the accents on each dining room chair, I took a chip brush and applied

some dark wood stain over the caning.  Applied right over the previously painted

surface, it gave the look of my inspiration photo that I had hoped to achieve. Some

chairs are more heavily gilded, and some spots are sparse, as if worn off over time.

The result is subtle, but noticeable, enhancing the dining room in that antique kind

 of Frenchy way that you all know I love.  The chairs have a sophistication that 

they lacked before, and yet at the same time they aren't screaming for attention. 

Using Annie Sloan's gilding wax is easy, affordable and yields great results!

Give it a try, and get some gilded goodness going in your home.