Sunday, August 1, 2010

DIY Project Parade & Playing Sublimely

I'm honored to show off this beautiful chandelier for Amy at


Here is her tutorial/before and after photos.  It's stunning!  Note the finish she did!


How to make your own Niermann Weeks: kinda

Oh how I love the look of a Niermann Weeks chandelier, and oh how I hate the price of them. My friend Karen who is one of the most fashionable ladies walking the planet, got me thinking about how to create the look of a Niermann Weeks chandelier. She is a girl after my own heart and loves to decorate fabulous for less. I have told you before that I am a "faux, faux finisher". I pretend a little with decorative finishes, but I had never experimented with applying any products to a fixture before. So I gave it a shot.

Here are a few finishes I liked from the Niermann Weeks collection, all priced over $5,500:







Here are a few of Brooke's table lamps from her Giannetti lighting collection, love the finish of these as well:








And this is what I wanted to transform into something lovely: a $25 brass consignment store find. I liked the lines of it, and it was large enough to go in my foyer.

Everything I used was products that I had around my house (Faux Effects plaster), but you could use regular plaster and tint it any color you wanted. I scooped the product up in my hands and smeared it all over the chandelier. My first plaster color was a bronze shade. I let that dry and then I repeated the exact same "technique" with a neutral color plaster (I am using that term loosely as my five year old helped me cover the chandelier in plaster with her hands). Once both layers had dried I sanded it a little by hand to let the darker shade underneath show through.
We did change out the glass because I wanted an "old look". We replaced the plain glass with "seeded glass" for a vintage feel. I considered not putting any glass in it at all. I think that would have been a nice look also, but ultimately the "seeded glass look" won me over.
Then my cute carpenter risked his own life to hang my creation. He is a good man.Isn't she lovely.

Can you see the finish and texture?

The seeded glass reflects specks on our walls at night...it's dreamy.

I love not having to spend $5,500 to get the look I want, and I love Karen for convincing me to try this.

Thanks for sharing your Gorgeous transformed chandelier, Amy!  I love the beautiful finish you did - and now I'm on board.  I want one too!  You're the most fantastic talented faux, faux finisher!  :)  

And to the rest of you:  Pop over to
and see more DIY inspiration!
~*~**~*~
Show off your DIY projects too!


The DIY Show Off

If you'd like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
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