Open a View to Your Backyard's Wildlife
Enjoy an eyeful of birds, deer, chipmunks and other creatures with natural outdoor habitats that include a hidden vantage point
Wildlife can be a key part of your everyday life at home if you let it. Feeders and natural habitats can invite birds and chipmunks, for example. And when they come, how can you get the best views of them up close? The key is to create safe habitats near your home as well as unobtrusive viewing areas, or blinds.
A blind in home design can be a cutout or window to allow viewers to watch wildlife at a close range while staying hidden from view. The more natural habitats and feeding areas around the window, the better the show. Effective and simple, a blind connects you instantly to nature.
Take a peek into an inspirational wildlife blind and learn from homes that have integrated blind techniques into their designs.
A blind in home design can be a cutout or window to allow viewers to watch wildlife at a close range while staying hidden from view. The more natural habitats and feeding areas around the window, the better the show. Effective and simple, a blind connects you instantly to nature.
Take a peek into an inspirational wildlife blind and learn from homes that have integrated blind techniques into their designs.
Cutout windows on all sides allow folks to view the birds and wildlife without scaring the animals off. The windows created long, narrow panoramic views of the countryside — a bonus.
Many of the cutouts placed higher up on the wall provide the perfect vantage point from which to watch the birds up in the trees while keeping hidden. The effect is much like looking out a mullioned window, but with a slightly haphazard grid.
Blinds in Your Home
Putting a blind into your home comes down to framing the perfect vantage point. Where can you see wildlife in your home? Imagine the deer, chipmunks and bluebirds that must scamper past the windows in this photo — the view must be magical.
Putting a blind into your home comes down to framing the perfect vantage point. Where can you see wildlife in your home? Imagine the deer, chipmunks and bluebirds that must scamper past the windows in this photo — the view must be magical.
A long, narrow window can capture a beautiful mountain ridge, ocean waves and a simple tree-lined yard.
If you are blessed with a mountain view, a long and lean window can turn it into a work of art.
Clerestory windows lining a tree-surrounded roofline will give the same effect, and you'll have natural light streaming into your home year-round.
Take advantage of your porch or patio too. An open space like this could be the perfect bird-watching platform.
Whether you are adding windows, opening up views or simply planting some trees close to your home, take a few moments to consider the wild creatures in your area. What would appeal to them? What would make them come close to your home? How can you hide yourself while maintaining a clear view? These details can help a space settle into its environment, allowing the surrounding world to become an integral part of the home.
More in Gardening: Attracting birds and butterflies
More in Gardening: Attracting birds and butterflies
Recently I stumbled upon a surprise in Wildwood Park. After walking for about a mile on the boardwalk, I saw a building in the middle of the marsh, surrounded on three sides by vegetation. As I got closer to the building, I realized a boardwalk had been placed in the marsh with a bird blind set squat in the middle.
The bird blind in Wildwood Park blends into the surrounding landscape with weathered wood planking, cutout windows and a low profile.