Black Washing Furniture with Distressed Gilded Accents

April 05 2024, by Danielle Knip, 3 min reading time

Learn from Amy Howard how to achieve a timeless black washed furniture finish with distressed gilded accents. In this tutorial, Amy will walk you through the steps of using one-step paint, glaze, gold leaf, and more to achieve this trending yet timeless look.

Products Used:

Step 1: Prep your Surface

Begin by cleaning your surface with Clean Slate to eliminate any existing wax or varnish. Clean Slate effectively removes wax, grease, and oily residue from your surfaces, ensuring a pristine foundation for your project.

Step 2: Make Your Glaze

Take one part black One Step Paint, one part water, and one part Glazed Over, and mix them thoroughly in a cup to create your black glaze.

Step 3: Apply Your Glaze

Apply the glaze section by section with a chip brush. For instance, if you're refinishing a nightstand, concentrate on one drawer or side at a time.

Step 4: Wipe Off Glaze

Ensure you're wearing gloves for this step. Next, take a clean synthetic brush and begin pulling off some of the glaze. You can also use a clean, lint-free cotton rag to wash across the surface, reaching into the crevices to remove the glaze. For flatter surfaces, use a clean synthetic brush to drag and pull along the glaze to remove it.

Step 5: Apply Gilding Size

Apply size to an artist brush and using a rolling motion, apply it to the areas where you want to apply gold leaf. Amy focused on the raised areas of this piece.

Step 6: Apply Gold Leaf

Once your gilding size starts feeling tacky—it'll change from white to clear as it dries—grab your gold leaf and lay it on the surface. Then, just use your fingers to gently rub it in. Remember, you're not aiming to cover everything in gold leaf, just the spots you want to make pop, like those raised elements.

Step 7: Remove & Buff Excess Gold Leaf

Next, grab a clean synthetic brush to gently remove any excess leaf, followed by using steel wool to buff it out. Finally, use the brush once more to thoroughly dust off any remaining residue.

Step 8: Apply Light Antiquing Wax

Load up your brush with Light Wax, offload it, and then apply using a pouncing motion to get the wax into the crevices. Let the wax come to tack.

Step 10: Apply Dust Of Ages

Lastly, we are going to give our piece a truly antique and aged patina by pouncing Dust of Ages in all the nooks and crannies using a chip brush. Wipe off the excess Dust of Ages, and then use a clean lint-free cloth to lightly buff the Dust of Ages off the raised details of your surface. You want to use a hit-drag motion as if you were buffing a shoe. As you do this, you will remove the excess Dust of Ages and lightly buff your finish, which will allow the painted layers to show through and really shine!