My Curb Appeal Plans: Beautiful Mailboxes, Mailbox Posts, and Mailbox Landscaping

The weather here in central Texas has been so beautiful lately, and it looks like it will continue to be beautiful (with the exception of a day here and there), so I’ve had outdoor projects on the mind.

Our house is desperately lacking in curb appeal, and there are so many things I can’t wait to tackle this spring and summer…and in the years to come.  If you’ll remember, this is how it looked when we bought it last August.

Front of house

Not much has changed, other than the fact that I cut down those big boxwoods and we got our trees trimmed.

The goal is for it to look something like this…

possible paint colors 5

Of course, once again, the boxwood is gone.  (That’s the only exterior picture I had to work with at the time), and I didn’t go to the trouble of adding landscaping to the picture above.  But as far as the colors, I think that’s where I’m headed.

I’m not quite ready to tackle exterior painting or making shutters just yet, but yesterday I just wanted to do something outside..  So I thought, “Well, I can fix up the mailbox!  That should be easy!”

Right now, our mailbox leaves a lot to be desired.

Exterior - Mailbox 02 - resized

I know this was someone’s masterpiece at one time, but now it’s faded and covered in rust spots.  Plus, it’s not really my style.

Anyway, I honest to goodness thought that I could have this mailbox removed, and a bright, shiny new mailbox and mail post installed (and possibly made from scratch) by the end of the day yesterday.  (Have we discussed my Wonder Woman Syndrome before?  I seriously have the most unrealistic expectations sometimes…well, most of the time.)

So I hopped online to search for ideas, thinking  could some up with a plan, head to Home Depot to get all of the materials, and get this project knocked out in a few hours.

And then I got lost in an online world of pretty mailboxes, mailbox posts, mailbox landscaping, and so many decisions and options that I never knew existed over a mailbox.

The first mailbox post that I found and absolutely had a fit over was this one from Grandin Road.

mailbox post from grandin road

Oh my gosh, that copper mailbox!  I must have it!

Of course, that whole thing, with the mailbox post and the copper mailbox, would set me back $468, plus the flowers for the little planter.  I think y’all know me well enough to know that’s not gonna happen — not for a mailbox.  Plus, I really don’t need that slot for the newspaper.

But I thought maybe I could find a similar (and much cheaper) mailbox post, and then paint my current mailbox with copper paint, much like Diana did at Our Vintage Home Love.

copper painted mailbox from our vintage home

So with my spray painting plans in place, I set out to find a cheaper mailbox post.  I found one at Lowe’s for just under $80.

Mayne white polymer mailbox post with flower planter from Lowe's

I was so excited!  So I got in my car and headed to Lowe’s, convinced that I’d have a beautiful mailbox post and copper mailbox by the end of the day.

Ummm…no.  The box was big, but the whole thing weighed probably around 7 or 8 pounds.  I knew from the online description that it was made of plastic, but I just hadn’t expected it to be quite so lightweight.  And when you love things made of wood as much as I do, it’s just difficult to settle for plastic.

Plus, I could just imagine my lightweight plastic mailbox post ending up like this one, melting like an ice cube in the boiling hot Texas heat this summer.

Plastic mailbox post melted in the heat of summer
via Mail Boss

So I’m back to square one, but at least I know a bit better what I want.

  • a copper mailbox (even if it is just spray painted),
  • a mailbox post made of wood and not plastic,
  • an area (other than right on the mailbox) for house numbers to be displayed in a prominent and pretty way, and
  • a flower planter.

Something like this, with a flower planter added to it, would be perfect.

mailbox post with copper mailbox and accents
via Wildlife Weathervanes and Cupolas

And I also think everything about this mailbox and post, with its beautiful landscaping, is incredibly charming. And if I had this much landscaping around the mailbox post, I wouldn’t really need a separate flower box on the post.

copper mailbox on white mailbox post with beautiful landscaping via BHG
via Better Homes & Gardens

Although having the numbers on the mailbox post kind of defeats the purpose if they’re covered up with vines. 🙂 But it’s still very pretty.

So I’ll be building my own mailbox post. I considered buying one of the cheap, basic ones made of 4 x 4 lumber that they have at Lowe’s for about $20, and then just adding all of the pretty stuff to it. But I think I’ll just build mine completely from scratch. I found these plans from This Old House, so I might start with that, and then make my own modifications.

I’m so anxious to get the front of my house and the yard looking pretty!

 

 

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26 Comments

  1. I love the last two photos of mailboxes, and the plans to build one will turn out better than those two. I have a brick mailbox…but now wish I had one of these! You have great ideas. Can’t wait to see the final project.

  2. one thing with flowers in the mail box and or around the mail box is if you use wood the you should use Pressure Treated wood. i learned the hard way. i live in Iowa and i would love to have it warm up, it is going to snow today. i have spring fever and i want to plant flowers.

  3. I redid the landscaping around our mailbox this past fall so I could get my tulip bulbs planted, and now I have to reset the space because everything is dead AND the squirrels were so kind enough to dig up all but four bulbs.

    Love the idea of a copper box!

  4. Wowie! Copper! I’m off on a copper kick right now (because I’m off on a Mid-century kick).

    My hope for you is that you don’t have idiots living around you that love bashing mailboxes over. It’s a recurring sport for thugs in my rural area–mine survived for quite a few years, being the giant industrial farm-freight size, but incurred a dent last year. 🙁

    1. Oh, that’s too bad, Beverly. 🙁 I don’t see any signs of that happening in our neighborhood. Although I do wonder if one of my neighbors across the street had issues with cars backing out and hitting hers, because it sits behind a heavy metal railing. 😀

  5. I purchased the same white mailbox post from Lowes right after hurricane sandy ripped my wood mailbox out the ground by fallen 80 ft. pine trees, this mailbox is very nice add such beautiful curb appeal. My husband put a 2×4 cemented in the ground and slid the white plastic post over it, I get so many compliments and loved decorations on it for the holiday season. Although I did not use a copper box and opted for a black mailbox.

    1. Trina’s comment was what I was going to day …. I believe those plastic posts are meant to slide over a 4 x 4 wood post. At least that’s how they’re done here.

  6. I have the white plastic post from Lowe’s & I live in Louisiana so we have the heat & high humidity. It’s held up great! My hubby mounted it over a piece of treated lumber so it would be stronger.

    I’ve never thought of painting the mailbox copper though. We have lots of copper accents around our place. I just may have to go get some copper spray paint!!

    Thanks for the idea!!!

  7. Our home also suffers from lack of curb appeal after years of neglect from previous owners. I haven’t given much thought to the mailbox until seeing your inspiration pics. Even though Canada Post is going to be phasing out home delivery, I think a pretty mailbox would be a good start to jazzing up our front yard.
    I know you’ll come up with something beautiful and eye catching.

  8. I laughed out loud at the poor melted plastic mailbox post. Living in southern Louisiana, I could see this happening here as well! The idea of installing it over a 4×4 cemented into the ground is a genius idea, though it might still sag a bit in the heat. Then you’d have a Salvador Dali mailbox! 😉

    One thought about planting flowers around the mailbox – plant something that is easy care and drought resistant, or you’ll be needing to water them every day in hot weather.

    Oh, and for the commenter who posted that the squirrels had dug up and eaten her bulbs – I’ve read that if you put a piece of large mesh wire screen over them when planting, it helps keep them from being dug up.

  9. I own that white plastic mailbox too, for seven years. And it has held up well. And it has been hit by cars three times! It is suppose to slip over a 4×4 post. I have painted mine black now, and it makes it even better looking!

  10. I never knew a mailbox could melt & bend as the one in the photo did. Here in Wisconsin we have a different problem. Our mailboxes by law must be very close to the road for the postal carrier to drive up to; however, with lots and lots and lots of snow, the city’s snow plow drivers come along and push all the snow from the side of the streets onto the homeowners’ property. Every winter the mailboxes get knocked over and/or bent by the snow plows pushing all that snow with a lot of force. Occasionally, it’s just the door that gets twisted and mangled. Nevertheless, I’m inspired to landscape our black and white plastic mailbox!

  11. I like the idea of a copper mailbox and can honestly say I’ve never seen one in this area (northern Illinois). We get a lot of rural mailboxes painted with farm scenes (some are real works of art) or black or white with a nice flower box. Anyway, I think copper on top of wood will look really nice. Will you use copper house numbers, too? For low maintenence flowerbeds, use perennials. Once established you only have to trim them once a year. If they are too expensive to buy a bunch of them, ask neighbors for cuttings or pieces of root.

  12. Personally, I have never found copper paint to be remotely adequate to actually looking like copper… just always so cheapish by comparison, so I definitely vote for the real copper thing! Whatever you come up with, I’ve not doubt it will be stunning!

    The first box and the 2nd to the last one are just gorgeous! ~:)

  13. Kristi, go here http://www.morethanamailbox.com/wooden_mailbox_posts.html it is a company in Raleigh NC. I had their Carlton mailbox at our Raleigh home. Then when we moved I bought one and took it to our new home because I loved it. They are solid hardwood. I have been reading you for awhile and I’m quite sure you could make one but would not think less of you if you bought one because I did twice!

  14. I’ve been giving my mailbox a lot of thought over the past few years, but haven’t yet been able to convince hubby to spend the money and time on it (I am not capable of removing the old post). I like the same one’s that you do, but when I think about plantings around it I can’t help but think about bees, wasps, etc., and I just can’t do that to my mailperson.

  15. My first thought when I saw the picture of the mailbox post you liked is that as long as you want it in wood, you could totally build that! Isn’t it more or less just a big wooden post and some molding? Not only that, I bet yours would be way cooler! Hey, you built a whole fireplace that was a lot more complicated! LOL

    Look forward to seeing this project take shape! 🙂