Starbird

Stormy, snowy winter days are a perfect time to make a few changes around the house.   And my changes started out when I decided to give a name to our upstairs kitchen. 



Then I came up with an idea to convert one of my glass insulators into a shade to replace a pendant light that I had grown tired off.  I just had the local glass shop drill a hole in the top, and then Henri masterfully replaced it for me using the same hardware from our previous fixture.  If you would like to do this too, I found out the hard way that only a very small and very low watt bulb (15W) will work.  My use of a larger 40W bulb heated up the glass too much and caused my previously perfect insulator to sprout a sudden small crack, complete with sound effects, right before my eyes!  Fortunately the light switch was handy enough for me to react quickly to stop the damage. So now the fixture has a bit more character on one side than I had planned, and that's okay with me too!

Oh, and here is the reason I named the kitchen Starbird. Our Simon who is 38 years old.  The kitchen is where he spends most of his day. 

I also decided to dress up his cage with some sea shells that I added to some frayed tie-top curtains I made. 

He hangs out on the top of his cage during the day.  The only time he actually goes into his cage is at night.   Also, I did the ceiling in that embossed paper that is supposed to make it look like tin.  I have not yet painted it though.  I may just leave it white. 

Across from his cage he has a friendly tin seahorse to keep him company. 

See his reflection in the porthole mirror right there? 

I also added touches of gold leaf to my previously distressed cabinet doors that I painted black. 

Here's a close up of the gold leaf on a shell embellishment that I found at the hardware store. 

I should also mention that the color of my new light fixture, along with the name I gave the kitchen, might just be a nod to a common navigational sign you may be familiar with.   

In a previous post I confessed a little trick of how I always remember my left from my right, navigational-ly speaking, that is. 



Red for Port.  Green for Starboard {Starbird}.  Just a little visual in case you need help to remember that too!