35 Creative and Whimsical Birdhouse Ideas

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Want creative and unique birdhouse ideas? This photo gallery features all sorts of decorative bird home with lots of rustic, homemade touches.

You may also like these 7 Tutorials for Garden Art Flowers.

What’s Your Favorite Birdhouse Style?

I think you can tell a lot about a gardener’s style by their choice of birdhouse. This gallery has everything from stone to wood, rustic to modern, traditional to eclectic. See which ones are your favorites.

If you love bold colors, also see 12 Colorful Garden Ideas. I’ve got some freshly-painted birdhouses in my garden too!

Bird Safety Note

Most birdhouses are suitable as garden decor but not appropriate as nesting boxes for birds.

Why?

Nesting boxes should be designed for specific bird species to meet their individual needs. They should also be spaced far apart, placed in safe locations away from predators, and cleaned after each season.

While birds often use decorative birdhouses as nesting boxes, large openings and old nesting materials leave them vulnerable to predators and the spread of disease. And, deep or oddly shaped birdhouses can trap baby birds.

I have free nesting box plans here.

1Red Birdhouse

2Rustic Wood Birdhouses

3Cowboy Boots

These nesting boxes were made by Empress of Dirt Facebook friend Gaye.

If you do something like this, be sure to clean them out after each mating season.

Birdhouses made from painted cowboy boots.

Want to paint leather or vinyl? Rough up the surface with sandpaper and use patio paints.

Buy Unique Birdhouses

Check local artists, yard sales, and art sales.

Etsy is also a good source for unique garden art and birdhouses.

4Stone Birdhouse With Funnel Roof

The first birdhouse I ever made for my garden was a stone birdhouse.

I had seen a rather magnificent one for sale on a garden tour and, after seeing the sticker price ($275), I thought it might be a good idea to try making my own instead.

See How to Make a Stone Birdhouse for a free tutorial.

5Folkart

Several of the photos in this series come from the same garden. The artist, Mike, uses all sorts of random bits and bobs to create birdhouses and other garden art.

Folkart and rustic birdhouses on barn wall.

6Front Porch

You know how I said decorative birdhouses can be dangerous for wild birds?

This one has a good solution: paint the entry hole rather than making a real one. Problem solved!

Painted birdhouse with garden art chair on front porch.

Related: Gallery of Garden Art Chairs

7Turquoise Birdhouse

I’m a big fan of using color as a recurring theme throughout a garden.

This shows more ways to use color to spruce up a backyard space.

Best Outdoor Glue?

I use GE II Silicone Sealant for all of my garden art projects. It forms a permanent bond that lasts forever.

8Birdhouse Tree

We saw this on the front of a store on the shore of Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada.

Birdhouses on wood planks mounted on store wall.

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9St. Toad’s Cathedral

This toad house is next level! I’m not sure if His Majesty was at home when I took the photo.

Garden toad house made to look like church cathedral.

10Birdhouse Chair

This idea became popular years ago when country style furnishings were ruling the crafting world.

Just create picket tops, add faux roof pieces and drill holes.

Garden chair with birdhouse design on back wood slats.

11Martin House

This one is in my garden. I bought the martin house at a yard sale. I blocked off all of the doors except one. The wrens use it each spring.

Big white martin house with blue roof in garden with daisies.

11Tree Stump Birdhouses

This multi-branch tree stump makes an excellent birdhouse apartment complex.

Tree stump with several colorful birdhouses.

12Black Birdhouse

Black can be a bold color choice in a garden. This design could be used as a bird feeder too.

You can see more examples of black paint in the garden shown here with black fence and arbor.

13Gazebo

Not quite a birdhouse but more of an entertaining area for birds!

Ornamental mini gazebo used as garden decor.

14Clay Nesting Box

This one is used as a nesting box. Again, always be sure you can open and clean anything that birds may nest in.

15Rustic Blue

A lovely, scrappy piece made from old barnboard and sheet metal scraps.

Rustic blue birdhouse with green metal roof.

16Red and Yellow Birdhouse

This one has a modern art vibe. I quite like the addition of the tree branch on the porch.

Modern style birdhouse with red roof and yellow door.

17Chicken Coop Birdhouses

You’ll notice in several of these photos where the gardener has grouped a bunch of birdhouses together.

Creating collections is a great tip for displaying garden art.

Chicken coop with colorful birdhouses hanging from roof.

18Bedazzled Birdhouse

Go glitzy or go home! This birdhouse is bedazzling.

19Flower Power

I love old wood patina paired with masses of flowering plants.

Rustic wood birdhouse with fake bird and orange flowers.

20Green Tin Roof

Check out the junk boxes at thrift shops and Habitat for Humanity stores to find odd pieces for your birdhouse.

Locks, keys, gears, doorknobs, and more all work.

Rustic wood birdhouse with green metal roof.

21Quirky Topsy Turvy Birdhouse

There was a crooked man… What a fun and quirky project. Love the bell tower!

Quirky wood birdhouse with crooked lines.

22Rustic Stone Birdhouse

This one seems to be made from a basic wood birdhouse covered in grout with stones pressed in.

23Log Cabin Birdhouse

I love this one. Wish it was mine!

24Miniature Birdhouse

This is a simple idea for a fairy or miniature garden.

Take a small piece of wood, drill a few holes, add a perch, and top it with a tiny piece of scrap metal.

25Rustic Quirky Birdhouse

If you have old wood scraps, they work nicely for a house like this one.

Don’t worry about creating patina: a year or so of exposure to the elements starts aging wood nicely.

Rustic wood birdhouse and orange bird decor.

26Tree Stump Birdhouse

Years ago, it was considered a faux pas to leave tree stumps in place when a tree must be removed.

While some may resprout, the stumps provide valuable food and habitat for all the insects and microbes that keep a garden alive.

Tall white birdhouse with red roof on top of tree stump.

27Seashell Birdhouse

Here’s another option: use seashells instead of stones to decorate a birdhouse.

Seashell birdhouse with light green trim.

28Tool Perch

This is a sweet idea: use an old hand tool to mimic a perch.

29Hand-Painted Birdhouse

If your birdhouse needs dressing up, consider hand-painting some designs on it. A picket fence with flowers works too.

Hand painted white birdhouse with flowers and bird designs.

See How to Hand Paint Flower Pots for recommended craft supplies.

30Lock Birdhouse

Raid that thrift store and find items like this old lock to use as birdhouse decor.

Tall white rustic birdhouse with lock decor.

31Old Man Tree Stump

He’s alive! This old tree stump holds the laundry line and lots of garden art including the birdhouse on top.

Tree stump with face and birdhouse on top.

32Rustic Simple Birdhouse

33Tall Blue Birdhouse

There are a few creative details here: the faucet handle and drawer pull as accessories, the teardrop entry hole, and the addition of a vintage water fountain.