austin cubed: Everything's gone to the birds

2.11.2015

Everything's gone to the birds

Out of the box.

After five months of Texas hospitality.

Back at the very end of August I hung a gorgeous cubist birdhouse. Time (and, it seems, avian architectural criticism) has not faired well on said birdhaus. The edges have curled, the wood has molded, and the miniature flying dinosaurs, having stuck their beaks up at the brutal cubism, stayed away. I needed to find a hardier and more bird-friendly alternative.

Enter Second Surface Designs, also via Etsy. Second Surface takes Corian countertop remnants and makes awesome cubist pots (we have two) and, more recently, birdhouses. Perfect! The design is simple (ideal for a minimalist) as well as functional (ideal for a Modernist). Once mounted, you can easily access and clean the birdhouse by removing the interlocking face and floor from the front. Although some might balk at the cost, once you get one of these babies you realize what a deal they are. And even better, the owner allowed me to switch out the orange face for something that would match our house.

50 shades of grey.

All together now.

All apart.

I got to use this Earth-friendly drilling instrument to pilot the holes.

Screwed into the tree.

After 1.3 seconds of sliding in the panels.

Even looks pretty from the bottom.

View from the bedroom.

The other house I had to hang was a screech owl house. Although there are many wooden ones out there on the market, I opted for this rotomolded plastic one from the Barn Owl Box Company. Originally I was disappointed that it was green-gray because I thought it was supposed to be white, but this is the perfect color to allow it to hide in the trees. After fastening a base to the tree and then fastening the house to the base, I filled the bottom with mulch and attached the side entry. Hopefully we'll soon be able to see baby owls from our front door!