Modern Christmas Tree Alternative: DIY Chandelier Reader Project

A duo of fashion designers (and Apartment Therapy readers) moved into a loft late last year. They 1. needed light in their new space and 2. decided to forgo a traditional tree for that holiday season. They combined the two situations and got creative; coming up with a very pretty DIY alternative that provided both light and a place to show off some festive decor. They liked it so much they ended up using it for the holidays and beyond...

Anh wrote to us and told us the story behind their custom chandelier:

My husband and I are clothing designers. We also design and make many other things for our home. Last Christmas, our kids were overseas as exchange students. We missed them too much and and the thought of getting a Christmas tree was enough to bring us to tears. As we just moved to a very large and empty loft that needed lighting so we designed and made a good size chandelier that cost us nothing, using what we found around our loft: 4 boards and light bulbs, crystal beads, wires, and many of our ornaments. It took us less than 2 hours.

We replaced the ornaments for hearts during Valentine's Day, as well as trying tout origami,and hand made snow flakes for the winter... Lots of fun...

Thanks for sharing, Anh & Philip!

Images: Anh and Philip/Philip Sawyer Designs

Comments (9)

I love this idea! Is this hard wired to the ceiling? I'm not seeing how the electrical piece works. I am in desperate need of some lighting in my dining room and this is the right price range! :-)

Too bad there isn't a photo of the chandelier with the lights on :( I bet it looks great.

I do something similar to that every year because I am concerned about my big, expensive ornaments with my 4 cats, dog and kid. I use a white birch branch and hang it above an entryway and dangle my ornaments from it, along with a mistletoe...which is very poisonous.

Pretty wonderful and clever. Wondering why you say you need four boards. I only see one.

The large wood is a bit dominating for me, If I was to reproduce it I would see if I could get some mesh that would fit onto a hanging lampholders shade ring. Would be less dense visually and allow the light to go up as well, and have places to hang things without putting hooks in.

I like this idea.

I am not getting a tree this year and while I don't need lighting, I'm thinking I could do some variation to display a few things that mean the most.

Also, I like the idea of changing it out for different holidays.