Part of working on the exterior of the house means that we need new address numbers. This is like the jewelry of houses to me. The exterior lights are the bold statement necklace, and the address is the tasteful pair of earrings. For me, I like the lights to be more noticeable and the address to take a backseat, but still not be forgotten. I want them to be beautiful, but not as much of an eye catcher as the lights.
So over the course of a few evenings I hounded the internet. And let me tell you, address numbers are fucking difficult to find. I mean, there are A LOT, but all the ones I liked were expensive. I wouldn’t look at the price first, but every single one that I liked the look of was OVER $30 PER NUMBER! And we need 5 numbers. That’s $100+ after shipping and tax. On 5 metal numbers. I couldn’t stomach that.
There are these ones that are at HD that are perfectly acceptable
They’re only $7ish each. But I see them EVERYWHERE when people want contemporary-ish ones. So you know how I am – CAN’T DO IT! 🙂
Then there are these of course
But they are soooooo boring. They’re only about $2 each so it’s hard to not get them just to save money. But I don’t want to fall in love with the outside of the house, only to see the address and think, blehhhhhh.
So I searched for something more fun. More clean. More bold. But not TOO bold. You know what I mean? Sometimes I can’t explain myself very well.
I loved these
From here. They were in the running at first, but I still couldn’t stomach paying $20+ for a number. A 4″ number. Sigh.
But I kept at it and kept being drawn to clean, contemporary fonts (I am not a serif girl)
from here
from here
from here
from here
Cryyyyyy. All too pricey for my cheapness.
And so of course my brain went to: how could I make our address numbers? And then I remembered this totally awesome picture I pinned many, many, many weeks ago
from here
OOOOhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh. LOVE.
And I realized that I could make each number ANY height I want and go to fucking town on dafont figuring out WHATEVER font I want for the address
from here
Chris of course skeptically rolled his eyes at me when I told him of my plan 🙂 It’s not like we’re not busy right now or anything 🙂 But this will be a super fun art project for me. And very reflective of our personalities. And that’s really my goal with this house. I want it to feel like US. So what do you think??? Super cool? Yes! 🙂
Shannon says
I LOVE the idea of making your own, but my anxiety/OCD would probably drive me insane. I don’t even know if I could start. So frustrating. I can’t wait to see what you design!
meryl rose says
I’m excited! I have so many anxious feelings about MANY other aspects of my life, but for some reason DIY and art projects hasn’t ever been one of them. It’s like the only thing that makes me feel ballsy enough to try something totally stupid and ridiculous 🙂
Lesley says
LOL. I looked at all those numbers for our house in CA. Finally got some cheap/fine at OSH since we were selling. Then we got to Portland and our forever house, and the search started again. I noticed a lot of houses here had the same ceramic ones, and while I usually want something different than what’s everywhere, I love the story and history of the ceramic ones. In the 1930s when the city decided to standardize addresses they put these on all the houses. Many still have their original ones, and now you can buy the same ones new. It was $60 for 3 and the galvanized holder, but I am totally in love with them. Something a ought seeing OUR particular address in them just teared me up. It’s our house in our new city! I got them at Hippo Hardware but sadly they were the same price as Schoolhouse Electric:
https://www.schoolhouseelectric.com/collections/numbers-signs/products/asbury-house-numbers
meryl rose says
I LOVE that story of the house numbers – definitely not a shame to be part of a group in that case because it really means something in terms of the history of the city. And that’s so cool that so many have stood the test of time for 80 years. And hey, that price really isn’t that bad considering it included the holder as well.
Pedro says
If you like lights and house numbers, just combine them.
http://surrounding.com/Products/Luxello/Modern_LED_House_Number_5_Outdoor.asp
meryl rose says
I actually looked into that! I really loved that idea and really thought about spending the extra money because they do look so awesome illuminated like that, but alas, my cheap self could still not do it