Best Metallic Paints for Furniture & Wood with Real Life Reviews

Learn about four different types of Gold metallic paint for furniture and which one works best for different surfaces.

What are your options if you want to give a piece of furniture a metallic finish? What’s the best metallic finish for accessories vs. an entire piece of furniture?

There are a handful of paints and products on the market today that will give a piece of furniture that beautiful metallic finish. That being said not all of them work great on every surface.

I’ve got four different gold metallic paint products WITH real life reviews that I’m going to share with you today.

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Best Metallic paint for furniture

DecoArt Elegant Finish Metallic Paint

This metallic paint has a beautiful iridescent sheen that will transform any piece of furniture. It is a water based acrylic paint that only needs soap and water for cleanup. It’s a great wood furniture metallic paint. The only thing you need to watch out for is that it takes quite a few coats of paint to show up, especially on darker colors.

I painted this (previously painted) black mirror with three coats of DecoArt Elegant Finish in the color Champagne Gold. I think it turned out nice.

I used a foam brush to transform this mirror to more my style. I barely used any of the paint too. This stuff will last forever.

That being said, the first coat doesn’t show up really well on a dark surface. It took three coats to get the finish I was looking for.

My purpose in painting this mirror is to match my newly refinished painted dresser. I think I was successful! What do you think?

Final thoughts; This paint is perfect if you want a translucent finish or you are painting a large piece of furniture and don’t want to spend the extra money on Fusion Mineral Paint Metallics or Rub n’ Buff. This paint is super affordable and covers a lot of surface area in one small can.

If you are looking for a super smooth and even finish, I wouldn’t choose this paint. It does show brush strokes if you aren’t careful.

Fusion Mineral Paint Metallics

Fusion mineral paints are one my favorite paints made directly for furniture. They have a line of metallics in nine different shades.

I recently refinished a buffet and added a few metallic gold accents with fusion mineral paint.

You can see in the detail shot above where I used a small paint brush to highlight the curves in this furniture piece.

Final thoughts; Fusion mineral paint is easy to use but fair warning; it’s not cheap. One coat of this paint will show up better than the DecoArt will, but you will end up spending a lot more money too.

This paint is the most eco friendly of all of them and has an easy cleanup.

I would choose this paint if you want to highlight certain aspects of a furniture piece or paint furniture accessories.

Rub n’ Buff Metallic Finishes

Rub n’ Buff is a wax metallic finish that comes in a small tube. You can apply it to virtually any surface.

Normally my go to gold finish is with Rub n’ Buff. It’s kind of like gold magic in a tube. It’s great to transform small accent pieces and hardware with, but not a good option if you want to cover an entire piece of furniture.

I updated a few lamps years ago with gold Rub n’ Buff and it was so easy! I needed some gold accents in my daughters room and didn’t want to purchase new, so the Rub n’ Buff transformed them beautifully.

Final thoughts; Rub n’ Buff is a wax product that applies very easily but does not come off easily. It’s great to use on accessories and small accent pieces like lamps, fan hardware, and especially surfaces that don’t get touched a lot.

The few times I’ve used Rub n’ Buff on hardware it hasn’t held up well. I would imagine that after being touched a handful of times the wax eventually comes off. If you do use it for hardware (or a surface that gets touched), I would apply a spray sealer on the top.

Just like with the Fusion Mineral Paint, this small tube of wax would not be cost effective to cover an entire furniture piece. It should be used for smaller accessories and highlighting different areas.

Rust-Oleum Metallic Spray Paint

This spray paint will cover virtually any surface. It is an oil based formula with excellent adhesion properties (great for slick surfaces). It comes in over 20 metallic colors.

My favorite gold spray paint is Rust-Oleum Pure Gold. I’ve painted countless things with it like this chair base below for a modern vintage chair makeover.

I also spray painted these hooks with it in our coastal style mudroom. The spray paint finish has held up beautifully for over three years and going strong.

Spray paint is great for creating a smooth, even finish on any surface.

Final thoughts; If you are looking to cover a large surface area, especially a metal or plastic material, metallic spray paint should be what you use. Spray paint gives an even, smooth finish that should last a long time.

The Rust-Oleum metallic spray paint even has rust and corrosion prevention capabilities. This is great for painting outdoor furniture. It’s also fast drying and has really good coverage. Most surfaces will require 1-2 coats.

If you are looking to transform a smaller accessory or highlight a certain area in a piece of furniture, I would NOT suggest using spray paint.

Check out more of my Paint reviews below:

Best Gold Paint for Wood

Best White Paint Products for Kitchen Cabinets

Valspar Cabinet and Furniture Paint Review

Heirloom Traditions All-in-One paint review

Rust-Oleum Home Floor Coating

Valspar One-Coat Exterior stain and sealer in solid review

I hope I’ve shared a little insight about my favorite metallic gold paints to use when painting furniture.

Happy painting!