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.

Linking up with:
The Shabby Nest! Click here to go check out other frugal projects!