How to Choose the Correct Weathervane

Weathervanes are available in several sizes and choosing the correct size can enhance the weathervane's impact on your outdoor decorating theme.
If you have only seen a weathervane on someone's roof, you are in for a surprise. Weathervanes are now providing decorative accents for the tabletop, mantel, and shelves. Garden weathervanes are also providing an attractive touch to yards and gardens. And, yes, rooftops are still a very popular location for large weathervanes.
You have two choices to make when selecting a weathervane. I think choosing the weathervane's location is the first choice. Once you know where you might like to put a weathervane, you can then look at the designs available for that location (tabletop, mounted on a stake in the yard, or roof mount).
Are you looking a decorative accent to add to your indoor home decor? Review tabletop weathervanes that come with a base and stand or the larger ornament from a cottage weathervane (also called garden weathervanes). Just so you know, "ornament" is the term used for the weathervane's main figure. Although the garden weathervane's ornament would be too large to mount on the standard tabletop weathervane base, you could mount the ornament as wall decor.
Do you want to add a decorative weathervane to your yard or garden? Cottage or garden weathervanes, and even some full-size weathervanes, are mounted on a pole for this purpose and usually end up 5-8 feet tall overall. This height allows the garden weathervane to be easily visible in your garden or yard. The garden weathervane's popularity has grown over the years, resulting in numerous unique and interesting designs. Although this is my personal favorite size, I must warn you that the garden weathervane will not be an effective wind tool. Most of our homes today are surrounded by numerous fences, bushes, and trees that will dramatically reduce a garden weathervane's ability to point out the wind's direction.
Rooftop weathervanes have been the most popular style over the years and rooftops are the traditional location for weathervanes. Rooftop weathervanes usually range in height from 30" to 5 feet. Since you may not want your house to look like a huge alien rooster just landed on it, be sure to choose an appropriately proportioned height for your roof.
As a general rule, cottage/garden weathervanes (ornaments of 8" to 15") are great for pole mounting in your yard or mounting on the roof of a small garage, gazebo, or shed. The full-size weathervane (ornaments of 12" to 20") can work in the garden if it's toward the smaller size or on the roof of a garage, a house with a long roof line like a ranch-style home, or a slightly bigger structure. The really large weathervanes (ornaments 20" and up) create the biggest impact on commercial buildings, barns, or larger homes. Keep in mind that the ornament heights discussed do not include the extra inches of directionals (the north, east, south, west piece) and spacer balls that are part of many weathervanes.
Choosing a weathervane size that fits your purpose will result in an attractive addition to your outdoor decor. Remember that you want your weathervane large enough to be noticed, but not so large that the weathervane overpowers everything around (or under) it.