I don’t often see things that I absolutely adore. This includes birds, sofas and potential dating material. However, when I got an email from Restoration Hardware containing photos of this little beauty, I fell in love.
I’m sorry, but I can’t imagine a better use for such a crappy cage. The use of this terribly designed cage has raised it to true gorgeousness. As a cage? It’s horrible. As a chandelier? Stunning. I mean really. Look at it! I’m not big on Baroque style stuff with lots of crap hanging all over the place, large print floral fabric or gold-plated anything. The floor in my condo is slate tile. It’s stone for cripes sake! But this damned lamp took me down.
It’s not just because it’s a bird-related item either. I just simply love the lines of it. It is the contrast between the sparkly crystals enclosed in the coldness and the rigidity of the bronzed cage. It’s cool. It has character. It’s bizarre without being wacky. And I like that. It takes itself seriously, but not so much so that it doesn’t have a sense of humor.
I wrote a piece about the history of bird cages for Birds USA, BT’s annual roundup magazine for the basics of taking care of birds this past January.
I was very flattered to have been asked to write it and it was a hefty piece, about two thousand words. I think I did a pretty good job on it. But in order to write the piece without sounding like every other person who has written about bird cages in the past, I had to find an angle, so I wrote about how they begin as utilitarian, square, box-like structures, moved on into decorative pieces and now they have returned to the clean lines they once were.
Consequently, I learned one hell of a lot about bird cages. Some bird cages were built to be works of art and used with or without birds. Most were not such a hot idea as cages for birds, and the round cage was one of the worst ideas anyone ever came up with. But some were absolutely gorgeous as decorative pieces. The concept of the round cage was one of these bone-headed ideas. Attractive, but a simply lousy idea if you kept birds.
The use of the round cage in this particular function creates a “negative space” around the chandelier. It’s an object, but you can see through it.
I posted this photo on Facebook and people went nuts. I went nuts. And of course, the Can I make one of these because I’m too damned cheap to pay the freight on the outrageous cost of it? thought came to mind. I don’t know, but if I can figure it out, I’m moving on from the feather scarves and going into business. Because this is one hell of an idea.
August 26, 2011 at 6:54 am
Make one? I suppose you could, but this is perfection and I think you should go ahead and buy it. Yeah, I know Restoration Hardware is a tad pricey- but this item is a must. Hang it in your bathroom & install a dimmer- your bubble baths will be the envy of all and just the relaxing bit of heaven you deserve after all those Haiti turns.
Wuv, Bully
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August 26, 2011 at 10:23 am
I love this too. I even have a round cage sitting in my back yard because it isn’t appropriate for any of my birds. I was going to get rid of the cage when we move next month until I saw this. I think I will be repurposing that cage for the new dining room lighting.
P.S. I must admit that I have another round cage like it that houses 2 very happy lovebirds.
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August 26, 2011 at 11:28 am
Your blog worked! Someone listened and made lamps out of them instead of a torchure chamber for birds.
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August 26, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Ah! Yes! I like it too! Until I saw the price on the RH website!!! Besides, who would want to dust this thing? So, I was inspired to Google Images “Birdcage Chandelier”. Seems it’s not an original idea, only very well done and impressive! Thank you, but I’ll be keeping my birdcage and chandelier separate for the time being!
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August 26, 2011 at 1:31 pm
I love that one! Seen this before on some HGTV design show, but I don’t remember which. You can enev buy a lamp kit (under $20 at any hardware store) and put just the bare bulb into a small cage, definetly not as goregoes as that, but still really cool.
Not only is it a great way to use up those old crappy cages, but it also helps to protect the light from the bird and vice-versa!
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