How to Make a Birdhouse From Scrap Wood

If you have been a frugal fabulous reader for a little while here you might be starting to understand my love for pallet wood. It’s free wood! It is a little bit of work to get that pallet taken apart (here is my video tutorial on how to take apart a pallet) but it is more than worth it. It’s not only free but the wood is so beautiful with so much character.

Okay, I’ll stop obsessing now.

My front porch is seriously lacking in the “welcome, come on in” vibe and with spring and summer in the air I thought making a cute little birdhouse out of some left over pallet wood was a perfect start for an update. Not only does this simple décor item look super cute this time of year but can be updated with some fall leaves or Christmas lights later on in the year.

Are you for me to show you how to make a birdhouse of your very own? I hope so! This project is way easy to make and with this tutorial you will be able to make it with any size scrap wood you have laying around.

How to Make a Birdhouse From Scrap Wood

What you will need:
A saw
Drill and drill bit to cut out bird door
Nails
Hammer
2 long pieces of wood for walls – same width and length (this is how tall your bird house will be)
2 slightly shorter pieces of wood for adjacent walls – same width and length
2 pieces of wood for roof – same width and length
2 pieces of wood for base walls – same width and length
1 piece of wood base – make sure it is wide enough to cover the bottom of the birdhouse
1 small piece of wood for front of base that is the same width as the house plus base walls

1. The first thing you need to do is cut the top end of your tallest piece of wood at a 45 degree angle. This is going to create a foundation for your roof.
2. Drill a hole in the front of one piece of wood to create the little bird door.
3. Next cut the other 2 “slightly shorter pieces of wood” making their length the same height as the first pieces of wood with the measurement starting under the cut for the roof. Here is a better visual for what you should have now:

4. Now nail pieces together creating a box. Make sure to have similar pieces facing each other.
5. Now turn the entire house upside down and nail the single piece of base wood to the bottom.
6. Next take your 2 pieces of wood (for the walls of the base) and nail them onto the bottom sides of the birdhouse. You can look at the pictures to better understand how this goes together.

7. To finish off the base, nail the small end piece of wood to the front of the base.
(I chose to leave a little box off the front of the birdhouse to leave room for a plant but you can simply just nail a single piece of wood to the bottom of the house and call it good)
8. On to the roof. This is the trickiest part. Depending on how you want the roof to look you could just line the roof pieces up best you can, nail them on and be done.

I wanted a nice pointed ridge and if you want the same thing then what you need to do is cut the very edge of just one piece of wood at a 45 degree angle. Now when the two pieces are lined up along the top of the birdhouse they will create a crisp edge. Nail in place.

And now you have a birdhouse! Now for my favorite part of the project, it’s time to decorate!

Decorating Your Birdhouse

Paint?
First you are going to want to decide if you want to paint it or not. Don’t feel like you have to! Maybe a stain is the look you are going for. But one of my favorite things about using reclaimed wood is the beauty of the wood that already exists. So maybe you don’t want to do anything to the wood at all. Decide on what look you love and go with it!

The Hardware
Your cute little birdhouse wouldn’t be complete without a perch for those dainty little animals to stand on. Try to think outside of the traditional stick theme.

The inspiration for this cooking themed birdhouse was actually my husband’s idea. As we were walking around the swap meet one Saturday I asked him to keep his eyes open for something to use as a perch and something for the roof. He spotted a metal junk pile where everything there was $0.25 each! Two old graters and a spoon were all I needed. With a couple nails we simply attached them in place. I love how it turned out!

What do you think?
What kind of hardware do you think you would use? Do you have any themed décor outside of your house? I would love to learn from you! Let me know in the comments below! I would also be more than happy to answer any questions if you are on the mission of using some old scrap wood to create your own birdhouse.

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