Thursday, December 06, 2007

Mailbox "after" photo

No more faded plastic mailbox! After admiring the neighbors' elegant post for a year, I was ready to ask Santa for a replacement.

That is, until I saw that our unbreakable version cost $60 new--and a fancier model, even more.

So I did what I always do when I don't like something I have: paint it black.

Luckily, I had picked up a free can of auto vinyl paint at a yard sale. Spraying a new coat only took a few minutes, without streaks or drips.

It's easy to decorate your mailbox with fresh, free greens...if you have the traditional post and newel design. Hanging them on a molded one-piece form is trickier.

Last year, I tried to disguise ours with a coat-hanger saddle over the top. The result? What my husband called a Chia mailbox.

Now that the box has a classic coat of black, I could tie a fan of greenery to the post instead. That same old roll of ribbon anchors both bundles to the underside. (99 cents from the thrift store)

My only regret is that I waited so long to make something prettier!

15 comments:

Tamara said...

Lovely, Meredith!

~Babychaser~ said...

I could pretty much say that about most things. I never remember the things I really want to do when I have the time... I need to make a list and keep it handy I think. Then when I have an hour free (or choose to take it), I'll know what I want to work on. :)

Nice job with the mail box! Ours has a navajo indian scene painted on it. It is nice, but not the way I would have chosen to decorate it. :) Someday when we own our home I will have a mailbox I love. :) Until then it is an easy landmark for friends and strangers alike to find our home. :)

DonnaB said...

What a treat for your neighbors and mail delivery person to see...it's a very lovely touch!

Jenny's Vegcafe said...

The paint job looks nice. Yeah for free paint.

Anonymous said...

Nice work Meredith. The mailbox looks brand new.

Anonymous said...

Looks nice! Makes me think, though, what happened when my parents once painted their mailbox. Now, this mailbox had stood where it was for probably 50 years (my parents live in the home my grandmother grew up in). My parents had just painted the garage and decided to use the leftover blue paint to spruce up this nice old mailbox. The very next night practically - some kids drove by and smashed it with a bat. Sort of sad, eh?

Anonymous said...

I wish you were my neighbor! That looks awesome!

Christian - Modobject@Home said...

After 2.5 years in our current home we finally got around to doing away with the 1980's teal green exterior shutters and opting for a much classier black. The professor and I stood in our front yard gazing at the house wondering why on earth it took us so long to make such a simple but noticeable improvement.

Saralyn said...

Any ideas on what to do with one that keeps getting mutilated by drive-by wackers in the middle of the night! It's quite the eyesore, but I'm NOT replacing it until the post office makes me!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, Meredith! so so pretty.

We had a sudden temperature drop (not really surprising, as December SHOULD be cold in New England) and my first thought upon awaking that morning was: OH NO! Can't finish the spray paint projects outside!

deb meyers

Jane said...

Just wanted to mention that I was looking through this years Living magazine and Martha has a door swag that is made from a hanger. I thought of you! Your creativity is right up there with Martha! Of course she mail orders her greens or gets them from her own tree farm, but hey, it's the ideas that got her that farm!

Karla Porter Archer said...

Lovely as always!

Blessings,
K

Anonymous said...

Saralyn,

I heard of some people with that problem. They took thier mailbox down and put a smaller receptical inside it. Then the filled the space between the old mailbox and the receptical (think they used a smaller mailbox)with cement. The next time someone whacked it with a baseball bat the joke was on them becuase it was basically like hitting the sidewalk with all you energy. It hurt!

Maybe that will help :)

Betty Canuck said...

About the Mailbox whackers...

Up here its the snow plow. We either place the mail box on the side of the metal pole, making sure that the mailbox is attached to the side of the pole in away that if you were driving by you'd hit the pole and not the box.

Others hang their boxes from a thing that looks a bit like the Hangman game the kids play. The box can be hit but the damage is lessened because it will move.

Meredith, your mailbox looks great! I just replaced our rusty mailbox with a white one to blend into the siding... to discover our siding is gray! LOL!

Tamara said...

You've inspired me again, Meredith.
I just posted a picture of my mailbox swag.