Mosaic Maisons

Mosaic Maisons, garden art for you, a cosy home for your garden birds.

New to my website (and the houses will be available on Etsy as I add them too), Mosaic Maisons. The idea was that bird boxes make the perfect way to display panels of mosaic, so they become like a practical frame for garden art. Mosaic Maisons is a fun way to offer these bird houses like an estate agent like luxury residences for your garden birds.

The first three boxes are these, although only one has made it onto my website, the other two have been reserved. So it pays to get in quick, just like on the real property market.

Mosaic Bird Box

Spanish Farmhouse Mosaic Garden Bird Box

After adding a couple of bee houses to my wildlife range, I thought I'd add some bird nest boxes too. The first one is called Spanish Farmhouse. It has a geometric blue and white design mosaic which, with the wooden roof gives a lovely rustic feel. The sides of the mosaic have a line of metallic copper and the sides and back of the box are painted with a muted putty colour which gives a fresh, modern feel, so this bird house will look great in any style of garden.

Summer Meadow Mosaic Garden Bird Box

The second bird box is using the Summer Meadow design that I've used on garden ball decorations before. It's a lovely bright design with poppies, buttercups, cornflowers, daisies and butterflies, that will add some colour to your garden, while being practical for the birds to nest in, in spring and roost in, in winter. The roof and sides of the mosaic are painted with sky blue, and the sides and back are painted white to keep the whole box looking light and airy.

Copper Verdigris Wirework Daisies Bird Nest Box

Sometimes, I like to do something a bit different from mosaic. I like to create effect and textures, which is sometimes hard to do with tiles. So, I make decorative wirework bird boxes. This one had a lovely brown wood stain on it already, so I thought a light whitewash would suit it, and I really wanted to make some daisy decorations that looked like they were made from copper and had the verdigris starting to happen on them. I think it turned out quite nicely.

Rambling Rose and Seed Heads Bird Boxes

Rambling Rose Bird Box

Seed Heads Bird Box

These two bird boxes have been hand painted with a slight distressed finish using layers of paint. Then both have had wire decoration applied to finish them. The first one has wire Rambling Roses that are hand painted pink and copper, and includes wire hearts on both sides of the box. The second box has wire flower Seed Heads all around the sides and front. Both are practical for the birds, and both are very pretty for your garden.

Wired Bird Boxes

Rambling Rose Bird Box

Daisy Chain Bird Box

I love hand decorating with paint. Adding effects and creating patterns. I also like creating and engineering things. So as I've got the tools to use wire for my jewellery it seemed like a good idea to find a way to add some wire to the bird boxes to create a raised effect to the designs. I really like the finished look. Especially as I've got some special paint that is suitable to outdoor use that I can use to create even more effects on the wire. For these two bird boxes I've created a rusty copper look to the wire. Practical for the birds, and decorative for the garden. A perfect combination.

Seed Head Bird Box

A new season preview.

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

This year I am planning to add to my wildlife product range by including hand decorated bird boxes. I was originally going to cover the whole box with mosaic. But I've decided that I quite like the flexibility of using paint and mosaic to create colour combinations. I like having the large blocks of colour on the sides and roof, contrasting or complimenting with the front design.

Putting mosaic straight onto wood that's going to be used in the garden is a bit iffy, as wood expands and contacts when it gets wet then dries, so I have designed a panel that I can attach to the front of the bird box which is a stable base for the mosaic to go onto and won't be affected by movement. It's also great as extra insulation (helping keep the interior warmth inside the box) and protection (helping to stop the box from overheating if the sun is on it, and protecting the entrance hole a bit more from predators, and direct rain).

Coast Mosaic Garden Bird Nest Box

As with all my items I am currently trialing the boxes my own garden to make sure they stand up to the weather. There's still a few more cold snaps for them to go through before they'll pass. Plus I might well tweak some of the colours (the beauty of leaving some of the design as painted wood).

Keep an eye on this blog, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter to get a heads up when they go on sale.