Provided herein is a method of coating a surface. A silicon-based coating composition is coated onto a surface. The composition comprises 5% to 80% polysilazane, 20% to 60% polysiloxane, and polysilane of a formula (R1R2Si)n, wherein n is greater than 1, and wherein R1 and R2 are the same or different and are chosen from alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, alkylamino, aryl, aralkyl, or alkylsilyl, which polysilane has a weight average molecular weight of more than 50,000, and optionally organic solvent. The coating is cured ambiently to provide a non-ceramic clear coating having a thickness ranging between 0.1 mil and 1.5 mil, a hardness ranging between 2H and 9H in accordance with ASTM 3363 for film hardness by pencil test, and a kinetic coefficient of friction between 0.03 and 0.04. Also provided are silicon-based coating compositions and cured coatings from those compositions using the provided method.