Silver Leaf Doors



Italian school house doors

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I have this dream that I would one day have a loft and then put old Italian exteriors doors in the interior of the space.  I would silver or gold leaf them and they would be brilliant, and of course hip beyond belief.

here's a detail shot, you can see a little of the brown antiquing 


This summer while working painting a villa I got my doors, because the clients had to change the front door while putting in an alarm system.  They are just gorgeous I wish I could put my finger on the photos.  The  doors are huge, with panels carved in, heavy and wood and they even have the letter slot that says "lettere" on it.  They are now in storage.  The day I got them, I went to my favorite cafe where a girlfriend works and I told her my dream and I joked I don't have the loft but I have the doors.

I love what an improvement painting hardware can be


Then autumn rolled around and I started working on another villa, that was once a school house up in the hills of Assisi.  These clients were very cool, Italian - Canadians who work in film, and the school house already had a loft built into it, plus the exterior doors inside, man isn't life weird that way.  So instead of becoming very jealous I just decided that I would get them to do the Silver Leaf Doors.  We ended up doing the inner front doors, which is not the pretty set of doors that goes to the loft room, yet they are a focal point for the house and entrance.


the before shot


Here is a before shot.

I liked the animal scratches it gives it a past


For this process, first I painted it gray so if it wears off in time it will just look aged.  Then I silver leafed the door.  Then I put a dry brush of raw umber (dark brown) oil paint over the whole thing to tone it down and antique it.  I left all the imperfections and even animal scratching in the wood because I liked the texture.  I painted all the hardware with metal paint in an industrial silver.

What do you think?  I just love it.  The clients love it too, they actually in the spring want me to change the panels to copper leaf to go more with the brick floor.  Maybe I should even do the oil paint dry brush effect in a brick-red color over the copper.  I always have the main goal to make the clients happy, and sometimes I get to test some of my dreams in the meantime.

so pretty


Natalie

Check out these parties I'm linking to:

Between Naps On The Porch
Mod Vintage Life
French Country Cottage
Redoux Interiors
Savvy Southern Style

9 comments:

  1. Those are spectacular! Thanks for stopping by Maison de Pax - I really enjoyed seeing your work, too. I miss Europe and its quirky, aged, historical homes... Thanks for sharing. :)

    Rachel
    maisondepax.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh...these are beyond gorgeous! I deleted your link...please try again!

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  3. beutiful and amazing...that's Italia for you

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  4. Pretty dang amazing! You're a lucky dog to get to do this. I have that same loft dream. Mine has lots of exposed brick to go with the doors....

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  5. A room with a glass roof and walls, attached to a house and used as a greenhouse or a sun room. It helps us to decorate our houses, offices and other things nicely. Thanks
    Doors

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  6. Tiffany - you can use any base paint you want, acrylic or latex water based is best. It would be fun to do a color to, so if the silver leaf wears off it would peak through. Here in Italy I probably used Sivac brand.
    Cheers, Nat

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