Rustic Weathered Birdhouse

by Patricia

4 Materials

One of my favorite small projects to work on is updating birdhouses. Many times I find them in thrift stores, but there are also unfinished birdhouses available new online or in stores. They can be finished for outdoor use to add a sweet touch of Spring to your patio or garden. Or use them indoors to create a charming centerpiece for a holiday get together.

I like to use leftover supplies for my birdhouse projects. This birdhouse was unfinished wood and I wanted to transform it and give it a rustic weathered look.

I stained the wood with a dark stain to use as my base color. I wiped back the excess stain with a shop towel.

I made sure to get the stain into all the nooks and crannies.

I used leftover paint (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) in Louis Blue for the base and Cream for the roof. I applied one thin coat of paint.

Next I used 220-grit sandpaper and heavily sanded back the paint.

Here's a close up of the paint heavily distressed. If you sand back too much you can always add another thin coat of paint. But this was the look I was going for, so I moved on to the next step.

After sanding I applied a dark glaze to the painted surface. This further deepens the color and gives it an aged look. I wiped away the excess glaze with a shop towel.

If using outdoors it can be sealed with Mod Podge or polyurethane.

Here are a couple of other birdhouses that I worked on at the same time. I also find that small projects like these are a great way to try out new color combinations or techniques, and I ended up using what I did on the birdhouses on larger furniture projects. If you would like to see more, then I'd like to invite you to stop by my blog. http://theblacksheepshoppe.blogspot.com/