Looking for ideas for decorating bird boxes? Listen closely—do you hear it?  The birds are chirping and welcoming the new season!  As they choose their mates and start building nests, you can give them a helping hand by putting out birdhouses.  This will also encourage them to live in your garden so you’ll have their cheerful songs for months to come.  You may even get lucky enough to see them raise their babies!

Sure, you could put out a pre-made wooden birdhouse and leave it at that, but you (and possibly the birds!) may get more enjoyment out of this new addition to your garden if it’s unique and personalised.  You can still begin with a plain wood birdhouse—they’re perfect for decorating.  Grab some eco-friendly paints that won’t harm your feathered neighbours such as this natural wood paint and gain some inspiration from our fun birdhouse decorating ideas.

One popular birdhouse decorating technique is painting it to match your home.  You can even add little decorative shutters and cut a spare shingle into tiny shingles for roofing.  This is a great idea for birdhouses that will be located in a highly visible spot in your garden.

If your birdhouse will be located in a more hidden area such as hanging in a tree or mixed in amongst some tall plants, you may want to paint it in such a way that it blends in with nature.  Use sponges and varying shades of green paint to dapple your birdhouse in leaf camouflage.  If you have an artistic talent, you could even paint flowers or vines on your birdhouse so it looks like a species all its own.

Your creative talents may lie in crafts, so gather a few items from your yard to transform your birdhouse into a woodland cottage!  Glue small stones to the front and sides of the birdhouse, attach moss to the roof/lid, then add pinecone, bark and branch accents.  Alternately you could create colourful mosaics on your birdhouse with bits of tile or stained glass.  Open your mind and your heart to the birds and let those creative juices flow!