Thread: I have just moved into a home with a mailbox on the curb. How can I improve it's appearance?

The mailbox is one of these rusty old things. My boyfriend likes the "unique" look of it, but I think that it is an eye sore. Can anyone help me to find a way to sort of clean it up a bit, and still keep the "unique" aspect of it. In other words, is there a way to keep it looking nice and rusty at the same time? Thank you!

Nice and rusty just don't seem to fit well. Wait till he's gone for the day, pull it off, sand it down, and paint it a nice color. Then put your house numbers on it with big numbers (the white on green or white on blue reflective ones are the best) and put it back up. The reason I say put your numbers on it with big numbers is it make your house much easier to find. I'm a pizza guy and we're way better at finding houses than emergency services are.

wipe it down with wd 40 and then plant a nice climbing plant ,like a honeysuckle or jasmine around the base... as it grows train the plant to cover the post and mailbox to your liking...

go to home depot and buy a new one

Hey~I had the same problem with my mailbox. We live in a rural area, so it is important to be able to see the house #'s, so we built a set of #'s out of wood and hung them in a tree. The mailbox was quite nasty, so I took it off it's post, cleaned it up, and painted it with a nice neutral green tone, then drew vines on it. I've had many people comment on how nicely it suits the house and the area.
There are many websites you can go to and find stencil type printouts that you can use if your interested in trying something like that.
Good luck!
By the way, make sure you use a good rust paint and primer after you've sanded it down a bit. I just used spray paint, much quicker!

If your boyfriend won't let you change the "rusty" look of it, you can put a climbing plant at the base of it or buy a small flag and attach it to the back (either a country flag or one of the novelty ones).

you might want to put some kind of a glaze on it, to keep the "unique" aspect of it, but so that it's not a safety issue....then plant a vine in a hanging pot, to camouflage it a little bit, and maybe paint the post of the mailbox to add a finished look. Greens might go nice with it. Or, maybe your bfriend just likes the color of the rust! In that case, buy some spray paint, sand it, and paint it a copper color.

I know I have seen these nylon mailbox covers. They usually come in every season and holiday. That way, you are not changing the "uniqueness" of it at all and making it look better at the same time. www.flagsrus.org has tons of nylon mailbox covers!

Good luck.