Walls and Ceilings - Venetian Plaster Fiasco

I wanted to do a metallic color wash but my "paint professional" recommended venetian plaster to cover up multiple imperfections in my wall. I told her that I wasn't able to do all the steps, with the sanding and burnishing etc., but she insisted that it wasn't necessary.

We we put on one thin coat and wherever it touched the wall it crackled, split, and pitted. When we tried to go over it with 400 grit sandpaper it keep the pitting, but pulled off the colored basecoat, down to the white primer.

It would be a great look it we wanted a roman ruin, but this is a rental and we promised the landlord that we would return it to the original condition when we moved.

On top of all of that it's not the bronze metallic we wanted, but it is a decided "baby poop brown". It really looks like monkeys went on a poop flinging party.:wall:

What do we do now. I want to cry and just sand it down to nothing. My husband feels we should try to faux paint a couple more layers of metallic and the base color to give it some added interest and depth.

I love the look of venetian plaster, what did we do wrong and how can we fix it. The layers aren't thick, but every one is cracked.

First, Venetian Plaster wont cover up any imperfections in the wall. Sorry you got some really bad advice. There are a number of reasons why it cracked. What brand of v.p. was it? what did you go over? Did you wipe all the dust off the wall first? Any way, why on earth would you spend all the money and effert to do a metallic, faux, or plaster on a rental? If I were you I would touch up all the walls with drywall mud and paint it.