Aloha! It has been too long and I apologize! We are finally feeling settled down more, and with that comes going out more and having some fun! YAY! We have been making some friends, going to the beach, walking around downtown Charleston, eating out, and just enjoying living here very much! We have of course been working on the house nonstop still, but just taking little breaks in between! One thing I am very excited about is the new member to our furry family! But first the story behind it…
When Chris and I got married in 2011, I planned and decorated our entire wedding, which was an outdoor wedding set on top of a hill in a Villa set over the wine country in Temecula, CA, it was beautiful! Our colors were white, champagne, with a touch of yellow. With that in mind, I incorporated gold bird cages, and LOVE canaries, so we had them on the invitations, center pieces, etc. As a surprise, my mom went out and bought actual canaries as a wedding present and to greet the guests as they came in on the guest book table. We named them Romeo & Juliet, and kept them as pets! Romeo sang to his Juliet and they were happy canaries!
I then had this idea to make them a larger cage, but didn’t want it to look like a cage! So I went on craigslist, and pinterest, and decided to convert a china hutch into a bird cage! I found the perfect one on craigslist, but you could do it with any hutch, like this one here or here. I then got some supplies and came up with my plan. I got this cloverleaf aluminum sheeting used for air duct vents and replaced the back of the hutch with it, as well as the top, for air flow. I converted a cute teapot, drilled a whole in the back and attached it to a wood board for a “bird house”, and epoxy glued the lid to the top so it would stay open. I got some dowels and stuck them in the wholes where the prior shelve tabs were located. I got a nest and threaded ribbon in it to hang from the top, that is their favorite spot! And just added other micellaneous bird items I found, I put a couple fun ideas in the amazon box below! Lastly I added a featherbrite bird lightbulb to substitute sunshine and it make their cage nice and bright! It actually turned out better than I had planned, and Romeo & Juliet loved it!
Then last year, Romeo got very sick, we took him to the vet, but he just slowly got worse and worse, and he passed away. We were heartbroken! Juliet seemed sad and lonely, but didn’t seem sick, so we decided to get her a friend about a month later, and named him Paris, this time a red canary! (In the Romeo and Juliet love story, it is actually Paris who is promised to marry Juliet until she falls in love with Romeo). She seemed to like Paris for awhile, but then she seemed lonely again, and she too started getting weak, she passed away 2 months later…We think she was to heartbroken without Romeo. We were very sad, they were a part of our family and our special day! We will always love and miss them! So we have had Paris this whole time and he moved with us to South Carolina, but we hesitated getting him a friend in case he was sick too, and because we knew we were moving. So now that we have settled down, and he is happy and healthy, we finally got him a girlfriend and he is so happy! We got a white canary, and her name is Venice! We have had her for about 2 weeks now. Anyway I just wanted to share our bird cage and our feathered friends with you! Also in case you are wondering we get our birds from fly babies aviary, they are based in Florida, and ship the bird very safely and quickly!
Now you can see Paris & Venice enjoying their bird cage (mansion)! I even found a bathtub with Paris name on it! This is similar to the bathtub in the picture! As for cleaning, I use wet paper towels to wipe down the glass every couple days, and then replace fresh paper towels on the bottom as well. I deep clean the cage by taking the birds temporarily out a couple times a year. And thats it! I hope you enjoyed it! Please leave any questions or comments below!
Josie Pelayo says
That teapot is a brillant idea! When I die, I want to be reincarnated into one of your pets.
jenpanehal says
LOL my pets are very spoiled this is true…Heck I wanna be reincarnated as my pets too!
Josie Pelayo says
Your wedding brought back wonderful memories. That villa was more beautiful than all the beach resorts I’ve stayed at in Hawaii.
Holly says
This is amazing! I recently came into possession of a hutch and have wanted to do this for years. My main concern is how to clean the glass and replace the liner without the birds getting out. Any tips you could share?
Jenna Panehal-Pelayo says
Hi Holly!!! You can either have birds that don’t fly very much like a parrotlet, or you can temporarily take them out to clean it. I had the canaries that could fly out, but I would just reach my hand in slightly and clean it one side at a time. They would usually be a little scared so they wouldn’t fly at me. I would also use an organic glass cleaner once a month and just water weekly.
Michelle says
This is so beautiful! I do have a few questions
Did you repaint the hutch? Were you worried about the paint being harmful to the birds?
How did you install the light?
Beautiful job!
-Michelle
Jenna Panehal-Pelayo says
Hi Michelle,
Yes I repainted the hutch, I used a nontoxic chalk paint! The light is just a lamp light on a cord that is sitting on top of the mesh on top off the cage, on a timer.
Karen says
Looks beautiful. Can you send the step by step instructions on how you did it. So impressed !!
Jenna says
Thank you! It really wasn’t that hard just took out the shelves and the backing and glass. Replaced the glass and backing with metal mesh. Added some bird perches and a light, and tada! All done!