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Refurbished Bird House

Keeping your birdhouse fresh for all seasons

Finally! The sun is out and any excuse to do things outside in the fresh air is welcomed. The grass is growing, the garden desperately needs attention, and there are a million things to do around the house—yet another great excuse to do a creative DIY project instead before hitting the practical stuff. And upon one look around the garden, the tired old birdhouse is just a suitable object to get some cans out and do a refurb. Or refurbish if you want to get technical.

Before

With little more than some sandpaper, a few of your favorite Montana GOLD colors, some white MARBLE 400ml spray, Montana VARNISH, and a black ACRYLIC marker, you have all you need to turn your birdhouse, into a luxury hotel for birds.

Our birdhouse had spent quite some time out in the sun and the rain. The paint on the roof had faded and varnish on the uncolored wooden parts had deteriorated and started peeling. With some sandpaper or even better an orbital sander if you have access to one, sand down the whole birdhouse. The nooks and crannies you will need to do by hand. Dust it off and wipe it down with a damp cloth. Once clean and dry, you can start masking the areas of the birdhouse you don’t want to color.

We covered these areas with card and cloth, but any flexible material that prevents the paint from hitting the wood will do. As we painted the different sections, we also covered the newly painted areas to protect them as well.

To start with our roof was the only wood exposed and our vigorously shaken pink Montana GOLD can with the safety ring taken out was ready to do its thing.

Smooth, thin even coats were applied and if your wood has cracks or openings, don’t be afraid to do multiple coats to ensure everything is properly coated. keeping the main body of our birdhouse covered, we followed this same procedure for the roof, the sides, and the base, protecting each surface after we painted it. The roof became pink (Lichee), the sides orange (Blast Orange), and the base was pre-primed with black (Shock Black), but this was only preparation for our special addition. A coating of Montana MARBLE 400ml spray, in the color white, was added to the base which meant we were now ready to unpack. Having removed all the covering, our pink roofed, orange walled, marble-based birdhouse was complimented with the raw look of natural wood at the front and back.

Our EXTRA FINE Montana ACRYLIC EMPTY marker was at the ready as we filled the barrel with black ACRYLIC refill paint. Remember to unscrew in a clockwise direction and screw tight counterclockwise, you can mix any color you want from any of the ACRYLIC paint colors. But we chose black and used it to accentuate the screw tops that could be seen in the pink paint. Or you can just buy a black prefilled one.

All that was left to do was to apply a few coats of Montana VARNISH to protect and seal the wood and give it all the one-over finish that we wanted. We chose Montana VARNISH Matt to highlight the grain of the wood and keep it as natural-looking as we could. The UV blockers in the VARNISH would also help protect the birdhouse from the elements all the longer, so the new 5-star birdhouse would stay looking good for as long as it can.

After

The Montana Matt VARNISH did a great job of coating the birdhouse and protecting all the parts. This will make a big difference when the birdhouse is exposed to heat and rain, minimizing and slowing down the process of the wood expanding and contracting, letting in water, and splitting the paint coating over time. The colors look great but they come alive next to the beautifully sanded and sealed natural wood.

If the birds aren’t happy with the color scheme, the bees will be! And with this beautiful little touch, you may have conjured up the strength to start tackling some of those other necessary tasks, like pulling weeds and mowing the lawn. In as little as a morning or afternoon, this project can be done and dusted.

And if you don’t have an old birdhouse and don’t want to make one, there are many options available in hardware stores that you can get to work on. Another job well done.

Happy Crafting!