A Little Black Paint Makeover

Our mailbox has been living on a front porch chair for over a year... ever since we removed the asbestos siding. I don't like our mailbox, and I was hesitant to drill holes into the brick for a box that wouldn't stay long.

Here's the old mailbox:


I removed the stick on numbers, lightly sanded it with 22o sandpaper, and spraypainted it with a can of black paint we had lying around in the garage:


I then realized that the stick on numbers were the only numbers visible from the street...

... the other house numbers had been painted white. Even though we intend on replacing the posts soon, we can't have the house unidentifiable! They were too delicate and paint encrusted to remove for stripping or proper painting, so I used a paint brush to paint the numbers black.

Here's what the mailbox and numbers look like on our house:


Much better than an ugly white mailbox sitting on the green chair! If it wears well, I may not even need to buy a new mailbox. Here's to a little paint.

Paint. And plywood. And one more stack of beadboard.

Also, the rental of a nail gun and air compressor to easily install the beadboard and plywood. THAT is what I would buy with a $200 gift certificate to Home Depot. Now... I don't have a $200 gift certificate, but luckily the fine folks over at One Project Closer are giving away just such a gift certificate! You can enter, too, but only if I win. Deal?

To Fred and Ethan: Pick me! Pick me! Can I send over fresh baked brownies?

Beadboard Ceiling!

While browsing through the Habitat ReStore in my city, I discovered a large pile of pine paneling, left over from some job or store closing. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that some of it was beadboard paneling. The best part? Each bundle of 6-8 foot boards was only $6! These bundles sell for $30 each in the store. I bought all they had, which was 6 bundles. This leaves me about 1 bundle short of the whole ceiling (after factoring in waste). Total cost for beadboard should be about $70 total after buying one more package at retail price.

It's decorative grade beadboard, so we will intall plywood first onto the open rafters to prevent warping. Our inspiration is Craig and Yvonne's gorgeous Victorian House, and the front porch ceiling they created. We will have to do a similar vaulted ceiling to avoid the window headers on our house. We are leaning towards staining it darkly just like they did, as well... would it be too fancy or dark for a little house like ours?

I'm really excited about how this porch project is coming together. We probably won't start true contruction before Memorial Day, but I'm going to start repairing the posts, staining or priming beadboard, and more. That way, we will be ready when the free time hits!

Tentative Porch... a Pictoral

A very nice person over at the Old House Web forums photoshopped the blue columns onto my front porch! Thank you so much, wletson! Just ignore the shutters on the house; we decided we don't want them.



They are really growing on me. I realized that these are just the right size for the porch. It would be prohibitively expensive to buy new posts that are a true 6 inches wide! (At least $300 each, I'm guessing, though I can't even find any that aren't really 5.5 inches.) I think we will just stick with these, unless something comes along first.

UPDATE: They may or may NOT be upside down. (This was photoshopped off of the old pictures- I think it gets the point across either way). I'm convinced it's an optical illusion to all of you! I have evidence in the bottoms of the posts, I think, and I'll take more pictures of the both ways. Plus, I think the posts look REALLY weird the other way... very top heavy.

More Porch Posts and a Decision Needed!

We did pick up THESE posts for free at one point... they are 6" wide, but aren't really traditional. I'm not sure they will work, so I hadn't mentioned them yesterday.



OK... here's the test run (in powder blue): I just leaned them up there.







Now... I have to make a decision soon (like by tomorrow or so), because I have an offer for someone to buy the posts for about the amount I need to buy 4 of the ones from Lowes (Edited to add... I'd just need to add $100 or so. On the other hand, if I use the blue posts, I can sell the remaining 7 or 8, and use that money to buy beadboard for the porch ceiling...) So... salvaged not quite right historically that need a little work to be perfect, or new construction closer to original, but are hollow and maybe not as "nice" of craftsmanship?

Porch Posts!

It's time to paint our house trim! But before we paint it, we need new porch posts. The current posts are hollow quasi-Craftsman squared columns. They are rotten through and through, and need replaced.

The columns are about 6 inches wide.

We know the porch is not original; you can see the "ghosts" of the old porch on the brick (the small white lines between the windows and the door). The original porch likely looked like THIS: (Our next door neighbor's house)


The posts on their house are turned posts, and there is a small amount of gingerbreading at the top. They appear to be a true 4 inches wide (and are more than likely original to the house, based on that size and the layers of paint that appear to be on them!).

We'd like to put actual turned posts like our neighbors back up, as the square columns are just too plain for the house. I've been trying to find salvaged posts for almost a year now, but can't find anything that doesn't cost $400 each OR they only have THREE posts. Sigh.


Question #1: Would it be weird to put half posts back up where the old half post ghosts are? The paint won't come off with anything that doesn't stain the brick, and we think this might be a nice way to hide the paint. Would it look weird though?

Question #2: What size of turned posts should I get? I know that the new 4 inch posts will be too spindly at barely 3 inches wide. Would a true four inch post be too small for the porch with it's larger roof? What do you think?

Question #3: Since I can't find salvaged posts, any pointers on buying new ones? Is there a reason I shouldnn't go buy the 5" or 6" posts from Lowes (that are actually 4 or 5 inches)?

We really can't afford much for the porch. I know we can't afford the $300 repro ones I've seen online that look gorgeous! We probably can't afford much more than $300 for all FOUR posts!