Before and After- Silver leafing my salon makeup desk

Projects. There are always something a woman has in mind for projects for her house. Whether it's to redecorate, add a little something or completely change a piece of furniture.

I wanted to add a salon type area for my beauty and boudoir clients. A place that the hair and makeup artists would feel comfortable and have their own space and clients would feel special and extra pampered. I also wanted one of those french provincial pieces but it's not in my budget. luckily, i'm crafty. I've had this desk since i was a little girl, and it's still in great shape, but it unfortunately no longer matched any of my decor. Because i'm inheriting a lovely desk to replace this once, i moved this little (and heavy) guy into the salon area! 

i started looking around and brainstorming about the decor. Pink. I have a feeling this color will follow me and my logo so i wanted to incorporate it without it being overpowering and then i came across silver leafing gilding. I did a ton of research and gathered all the material. 

I started by sanding the entire desk. Brandon bought me an electric one a few years which saved SO much time. Then i primed/painted it gray. The inside of the drawers are pink! 

After everything was painted, the silver leafing  began. it's a very slow process, and i enjoyed it for about a week. (but i kept running low on supplies) as i waited for the new material, i got less interested but i had a date i needed it finished so i worked on it anyway!
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It starts with glue (gilding) for leafing, then placing the loose leafs on it, letting it dry, brushing off the extra corners with a soft makeup brush and then coating so it doesn't tear. the leafing gets EVERYWHERE and sticks to your hands. 

 I had to get it in the house for the event but LAST week i was able to do all the touchups since it was alongside of another project i finished. I bought silver metallic spray paint to go on top, just a thin coat in the places that weren't perfect. 

the two above were before I spray painted it, still looking good! 

The rest came together perfectly. i had an old lamp that was bronze with no shade, so i found a cute white one, added the gold touches, and painted it pink too. Then found these drawer pulls and knobs, YUP there is a bit a french provincial in this desk now! yippie! Finally an exciting vanity mirror with lights and dimmer. it's beautiful and i think it'll be fun for boudoir photos too! I'm loving it, and hoping when i have a separate studio I'll have some great pieces to decorate with! 

Whew, having a timeline and date I had to finish by made this big project get done in a timely manner. Still on the hunt for a pink stylist chair... 

Another goal is to have a studio/salon area to shoot outside of the home. I'm making small steps to get to that point! These lovely pieces will be the feel of the studio and I think will be beautiful addition to the space. Really happy with how it turned out. Don't miss my next projects ;) 

-Shanna Star