Rustic bird house

Create this rustic bird house from reclaimed timber and finish it off with a trio of colours from the Resene Waterborne Woodsman range.

How to build a rustic birdhouse

Ways with wood with Mark Rayner - Project 84

Difficulty level: Moderate

You will need:

115mm x 20mm timber cut to the following sizes: 200mm (x1) – floor, 180mm (x1) – front wall, 310mm sloping to 200mm (x2) – side walls
10mm thick timber cut to the following sizes: 160mm x 400mm (back wall), 230mm x 240mm (roof)
40mm galvanised nails, 40mm and 100mm hole cutting attachments, drill with 10mm drill bit, hammer, paintbrush, pencil, sandpaper saw, tape measure, Resene Waterborne Woodsman testpots of Resene Silvered Grey, Resene Skywalker and Resene Pickled Bluewood.

To get the look: Mark painted the background shed wall with Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Soft Apple.

Other ideas: The bird house could also be painted with a selection of Resene testpot colours – just ensure you prime it first with Resene Quick Dry.

Step one
Measure, mark and cut the pieces of timber to the dimensions listed above and smooth any rough edges with sandpaper.

Step two
Fix the two side walls, floor and front wall together, as shown, using 40mm nails.

Step three
Fix the back wall into position using 40mm nails.

Step four
Fix the roof into position using 40mm nails.

Step five
Drill a 100mm hole in the back of the bird house (for maintenance access) and a 40mm entrance hole in the front wall. Drill two 10mm hanging holes in the top of the back wall, as shown.

Step six
Apply two coats of Resene Silvered Grey to the walls of the bird house, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step seven
Apply two coats of Resene Pickled Bluewood to the floor of the bird house, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

Step eight
Apply two coats of Resene Skywalker to the roof of the bird house, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.

› Download a PDF of this project

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