One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is creative collaboration with my clients and designer partners – which was the case with this recent project in Boston! My client Jonathan knew he wanted silver leaf on the tray ceiling of his entry foyer to accent the unique lighting fixture he would be installing – but he wanted it to be even more distinctive. While we were discussing ideas, he asked if it was possible to do an ombre, or fade, from gold leaf to silver leaf. This is not something I had done (or seen done!), but I was excited to figure out how to make it work.
Silver and gold leaf are extremely thin, square sheets of metal (5”x5”) that are applied by gluing them to the surface. Because of this, they can’t be blended like I do with paint ombres – but I suggested I create a transition between gold and silver by tearing the leaf sheets into small, irregular pieces and “blend” the gold and silver in this fashion.
As usual, my first step in creating a custom finish is to create a sample board – using actual gold and silver leaf on a piece of foam core board to show exactly what this would look like. When I showed the board to Jonathan, he was happy with the result – so my next step was the actual project!
The first photo below shows the tray ceiling before any work was done. The existing light fixture was removed, and we were able to install the gold-and-silver leaf ombre before the final lighting was installed. The final picture shows the end result, with both the cove lighting around the edges and the chandelier installed!
Enjoy!!
Jason
The tray ceiling before any work
With my gold and silver leaf ombre before the cove lighting and chandelier were installed
The final result!