Painted Mailboxes

I am a very strong believer in showing your own personal style to the world and being proud of it. Whether it's your favorite new outfit, the bumper stickers you have on your car or the color of your home. However you choose to strut your stuff and show your own unique taste, I applaud you. Too many people are afraid to be different and choose from a young age to just do as thy neighbor and follow the pack. 

One way of letting others know your own personal likes is to highlight certain aspects of your home. Make them stand out and scream to be noticed. Such as: a brightly painted front door, a wall in your living room painted a different color than the rest. A garden bench in your yard that is painted your favorite color, not just the same green as your neighbor's. Your favorite saying painted on the wall of one of your rooms. Your child's hand prints in bright paint colors around the walls of the playroom.

The great thing about paint is no matter how bad you think you may goof up, you can always repaint on the relatively inexpensive side. As an added bonus you might just find that you love your new creations and start a new hobby.

One of my favorite ways I have personalized our home is to paint our mailbox. I have made these as gifts and also sold quite a few. It's a great inexpensive way to add your own special touch to something that seems so ordinary to begin with. You can be sure that if you make it yourself there will not be another one around that is exactly like it.

I paint metal mailboxes and am not familiar with techniques for painting plastic. I am sure that there are good primers available, I am just not aware of them specifically. I suggest that if you wish to paint a plastic box that will be outside you speak to someone at your local paint department.

Just as in any painting project, preparation is key. You must clean your mailbox thoroughly and wait for it to completely dry before applying any paint or primer. Purchase the best quality primer you can for this project as your mailbox will be outside in all the elements for years to come. Take special note that it is an acceptable metal primer.

After your primer has dried you can paint your design. Use your imagination. If flowers are your interest. then some simple daisies would be lovely. If you have young children you could enlist their help and have them put their hand prints on it. If you are patriotic you could paint your box as a flag, something easy as your family name in your own handwriting is simple yet personal. Your favorite cartoon character copied out of a coloring book, alternating squares to look like checkerboard whatever you like. You are only limited by your imagination.

When you are done painting and it has completely dried you will want to seal your work with a high quality exterior sealer. This can be bought in the craft store or a hardware store. I prefer the spray kind verses the brush on however, that is personal preference and you should choose what you like. I recommend resealing your box at least once a year to protect it and keep it from getting scratched.