Fall is clearly in the air, and all over the blog world. I have to admit that I am loving every minute of it! After a summer of record high temps and zero rain, the crisp, cool air is a welcomed change.
To go along with some interior autumn decorating I’ve done {more on that to come}, the hubby and I decided that our mailbox could use some season-appropriate sprucing up. Ideally, we would love to replace our entire mailbox. Its old, and definitely not our style. The poor thing has definitely seen better days, and I think it was even recently hit by someone….possibly the new garbage truck our town just purchased?!? Now the lid won’t close all the way, which means it’s become a wonderful structure for spiders to call home. YUCK!
I always thought I’d remove the cracked plastic sleeve and spray paint it a fun color. But upon closer inspection, the sleeve is majorly screwed into the mailbox, and those screws and some other areas, have become rusted. Soooo we are going to make do until we save up for a new one. And truthfully, a new mailbox isn’t at the top of our priority list. We might have this pathetic thing for a couple more years. {Please don’t judge!}
So to make our mailbox less heinous to look at more tolerable, we decided we should create a mulch bed around the base and plant some pretty mums.
Hubby already pulled up what little grass we had in that area before I could snap a picture…so here is as “before” as I could get for you. ;)
And after we planted some mums…
And after we watered and mulched…
The key for this project is to not focus on how grimy our mailbox is, but to look at how pretty it’s base is now. :) Yea, let’s just do that…because the plastic cardinal sleeve is beyond sad at this point.
Oh, and for sake of keepin’ it real, I’d like to point out that we planted these in say mid-August {yup, we totally jumped on the “hey fall is right around the corner” bandwagon}, so the mums were already in bloom and have since lost their flowers. :( At least we still have some mulch and greenery around the mailbox, right?!?!
Anyone else in dire need of a new mailbox?
We want a new one, something retro and Restoration Hardware like but that's definitely not in our budget. However, we did end up spray painting our current one for the time being. It's better than it used to be! Can you not buy a replacement for $20 or so? It could still be temporary.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely could get an inexpensive one for the time being, but most likely we'll be lazy about it until we save up to swap one out for something more permanent haha.
DeleteYou know, I actually kind of like the cardinals--they have a sort of vintage charm...if only they were in better shape. And the mums are looking good! We have one of those big brick box things, with the metal mailbox inside. Only the mailbox has gotten warped over the years and is really hard to open now. And I have no idea how to fix it without tearing down the all the bricks. I always leave it very gently closed for the mail carrier so she doesn't have to fight to open it, but then she slams it back all the way shut every day
ReplyDeleteThey do have some charm to them, but the mailbox is just soooo grimy and rusted. In person, it's even more pitiful. :( That's unfortunate that your mailbox is tough to fix since it's in all of those bricks! I hope you can come up with a solution that doesn't involve ruining those bricks. :)
DeleteI say just take some tape and tape up the flag and then get your spray paint on...as long as it's not too windy? It could work? As much as I'd love a new mailbox, I just don't feel like spending money on it! Even thought is the first thing you see. Hello (no) curb appeal!
ReplyDeleteIt definitely could work. It might just come to that in the future...you never know! :) And I completely understand not wanting to spend money on the mailbox. We feel the same way...which is why we took care of the landscaping around it instead of the box itself haha!
DeleteMums are on my weekend to do list! They look lovely around your mailbox so I'm just going to pretend it still looks the same :) We replaced our mailbox this past Spring. Depending on what you want, they really aren't that expensive.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I appreciate it...I pretend that too hehe. I'm thinking we might get two potted mums and a pumpkin or two for the front porch this weekend. We planted a couple mums throughout some of our other beds too, but of course, those have met the same fate as our mailbox mums haha.
DeleteThis looks great. The day we replaced our mailbox was such a great day!!! So I get your frustration with the mailbox. Way to spruce it up. It looks great.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the sympathy hehe. I can't wait until we can get something new! :)
DeleteSo pretty!!! It definitely spruced things up by your mailbox. I really want to get a huge pot of mums for our front step....but....I'm not sure I want to spend the money on them right now.
ReplyDelete-Katie
Thanks Katie! I can totally understand that...I've been on the hunt for some reasonably priced ones. Fingers crossed we can both get something on the cheap! :)
DeleteCute! It looks so nice now, even makes the mailbox look not that bad. :) By the way, I love the stone around the front.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Melanie! :) We love that stone too! I'm hoping it holds up over the next 50 years, just like it has over the first 50. :)
DeleteI am always amazed by what some flowers and mulch can do. Before, the mailbox was the center of attention. Now it's all about the prettiness down below.
ReplyDeleteCould you take the mailbox off the post and spray paint it without having to unscrew the door?
Right, me too!! It's majorly screwed into the bottom of the wood, and we aren't sure how easy it'd be to un-attach and re-attach. :(
DeleteMuch better!! I love the stone as well. :) Maybe you could just paint over the cardinals with a brush and some exterior paint instead of spray paint?? It might be a good temporary fix??!
ReplyDeleteThanks, we definitely do too!! Possibly. The plastic cover over it is in pretty awful shape, so I'm not so sure how paint would hold up on it. We'll see what the future holds! Thanks for the tip. :)
DeleteLooks great! Our mailbox is fairly new, but the area around it needs a facelift. We're planning this same project in the spring.. I think.
ReplyDeleteNice...I definitely say go for it. It'll make all the difference in the world.
DeleteThat is a pretty sad little mailbox. We have a cheapie plastic one that is so darn ugly, but like you guys, I planted some impatients around the bottom this summer (which died in the drought and heat) and the mailbox will be dealt with another day.
ReplyDeleteWe want to do something like this http://pinterest.com/pin/223491200228435149/
So you can totally feel our pain! I love the pin you shared...those modern numbers are so cool!
DeleteAnd thanks for stopping by! :)
Our town is so teeny that we just have to have a PO box. Plus side, no mailbox make overs to worry about. ;) Looks good!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I honestly never even knew that some towns only had PO boxes! That's so cool!
DeleteI agree with Whitney! I am sure you could spray paint over it for the time being and not be able to tell?!
ReplyDeleteYou could probably plant some small pansies in there too - they hold up really well!
Yea, it's a possibility, although I'm not sure we can easily remove the box off the stand...hmmmmm. We'll have to brainstorm some more!
DeleteThanks for the tip...I'll definitely keep that in mind, Cara! :)
Well, the flowers look pretty! No one is looking at those birdies now ;)
ReplyDelete