Shedding some light... with a hanging birdcage lamp!

I recently downsized for a few reasons, and we now live in an adorable farmhouse on a horse farm! The house is like 100+ years old and once served as the largest dairy farm in the area. It is no longer a working farm, it’s just for horses and scenery now. The inside has a lot of updates but maintains the charm that makes old houses so cool. It has been quite an adjustment from our old house, which was probably twice the size or more, but keeping in the positive I have to say that a smaller home definitely has its benefits. First, and most importantly, I can actually keep it clean!  In this house I can actually tackle a pile of whatever and get everything back in its proper place. For me, this gives me the opportunity to make small accomplishments every day. In my old house, I would start to organize one area and while putting things away all over the house I would inevitably start on another. Then another… It was too overwhelming for me to ever maintain control of. Because I’m a perfectionist, it is already tough to finish something to the degree that I think it should be. Coupled with a tendency to become easily preoccupied, perfectionism is dangerous! I end up giving up on a lot of things on my to-do list because nothing ever seems right and the list keeps getting longer.
Now that I’m living mini, there aren’t a lot of places to hide a mess or project “for now”. This has ready helped me to finish what I start. It also helps that I don’t have too far to go to put things away, lessening the chance that something else will grab my attention. Oh it still happens, don’t get me wrong, but it happens much more infrequently.

 One area of the house that has driven me crazy since day 1 is a corner in the kitchen that has no light. I need light. Darkness depresses me and just turning on a few extra lights can boost my mood instantly. So this corner has been making me nuts. It is a small corner where there is a small café table and 2 chairs. I never use this table because it is so dark, but I could really use it so I need to fix the problem. It needs a hanging lamp, and since I’m poor right now and very crafty, I have decided to make one. I have a hanging light from my daughter’s room that she is no longer using, so I took the bulb/cord thing out of the shade and decided I would just make a new shade. But out of what?

i heart you, giver of light!

 After letting my creative juices flow, and a few journeys through google, I decided to use an old birdcage I bought at a garage sale last year. When I saw it I knew it had to be mine! It is very shabby chic, all metal, and beautiful; it looks like an antique. I didn’t care how much it cost, I knew that I would find some cool way to use it someday.  I flipped the hanging tag over (of course this was too sweet to just slap a sticker on) and practically squealed- $2! I brought my beauty home and hung her on a hook in my closet, where she lived for about a year. I smiled every time I looked at her, I just knew she would be appropriately showcased one day when I could find just the right use for her. Today is the day!

You light up my life... well, my previously dark little corner