Probably not a good day numerically to be up on ladders and scaffolding, but we had the best weather all week so again I took most of the day off to paint. In addition to finishing the first coat of tan on the porch, I also added another traditional touch on Victorians, a little gold leaf detail in the gable. I’m not sure if this is a tradition going back all the way to the Victorian period or not, but I’ve seen it on a lot of homes and it’s a nice touch when done in moderation. This was my first experience at gold leafing, and I’m glad it wasn’t real gold, because with the wind I lost quite a bit of the leaf as it was being applied. Hopefully the artificial leaf will hold up outside after a few coats of varnish are used to cover it and prevent it from oxidizing. If it doesn’t then I’ll have to try and find some real gold leaf.

So that almost completes the first gable. I had to remove the half balls because most of them were rotten and I ordered some replacements that just came today. I found the exact size that I needed from an online craft supplier. They aren’t redwood but they were only $4.50 for a bag of 10 of them (of course I needed 11) so I’m going to impregnate them with epoxy and then they should be ok for exterior use.

I didn’t really plan it this way, but the colors on the gable coordinate very well with the Aesthetic Design & Photography web site, including the gold leaf.