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247 E Mohawk Drive

May 11th, 2012

Yep, that’s my address. I purchased some house numbers a while ago with plans to put them on the front door. Then I got nervous and didn’t want to drill holes in the door. Earlier this week, we decided to make a plaque to hang on the front porch since it’s all spruced up and looking lovely.

Originally we were going to buy some wood, but then we remembered that we had some beautiful maple that was milled from one of those trees we had taken down last spring. First we thought about painting it, but then decided the light maple would be perfect as is.

Mr Chiots cut the perfect size board, complete with a slightly beveled edge. He gave it a good sanding, though not enough to make it furniture smooth. We wanted to still have some texture. Then I gave it a few coats of organic boiled linseed oil.

After it was dry, I attached the number, added the eye hooks, and wrote a small description on the back. Hopefully whoever has this house after us will find this little treasure when they take the number down.


Mr Chiots and I were laughing that they’ll probably take it down because they think it’s ugly then they’ll feel bad since it’s got history.

This house humber is perfect because it’s easily visible from the road now, which is why you put house numbers up. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been searching for someone’s address and couldn’t find house numbers either on the house or the mailbox. We’ve always had a mailbox with huge numbers on it to make it easy for people to find, now this is even better.

Do you display your house number somewhere visible?

16 Comments to “247 E Mohawk Drive”
  1. kristin @ going country on May 11, 2012 at 5:40 am

    Big black numbers right on the mailbox. Numbers on the house would be useless, since it’s set way back from the road, up a slight rise, and behind about a dozen huge old trees. People have a hard time seeing our house, which is funny, since it’s so big and noticeable once you know it’s there. I suppose a lot of it is that most people are looking at the lake on the other side of the road when they drive by.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  2. daisy on May 11, 2012 at 5:45 am

    It looks brilliant! And I love that the history of the wood is right there like a treasure just waiting to be found! ;0)

    We have our numbers displayed on our street-level mailbox, but it’s nothing fancy. The main consideration for us is that Fire & Rescue be able to find our house should there be an emergency, God forbid.

    Reply to daisy's comment

  3. Kathi Cook on May 11, 2012 at 6:50 am

    Haha We too had a hard time commiting to numbers. We have an “in town” victorian and didn’t want to screw numbers into the clapboard. We finally settled on a vintage style mailbox that is hung on the house with our number on it. Only took us two years after painting the house to get the new mailbox..We are not quick decision makers when it comes to the house. Sometimes I think we get too hung up on little choices. That is why I could never build my own house. Too many decisions!. I love your plaque made with your own maple tree!

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  4. risa on May 11, 2012 at 7:33 am

    The fire department brought everyone their five-digit number in white on a standardized large green plaque that bolts onto the mailbox post, if possible, or otherwise as near there as it can be. Some of us have it on its own post, or a tree, or a fence corner. It’s so all services can look for the same sort of thing when they arrive with sirens blaring. As we were adding a new mailbox at the time, ours has no numbers on it for the first time ever the sign on the post is much better.

    Reply to risa's comment

    • Susy on May 11, 2012 at 8:56 am

      We’ve got one of those green signs too…

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Fawn on May 11, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Susy,

    I was thinking the same thing- haha. The good thing though is that instead of the owner just tossing it like they may originally intend maybe it will encourage them to just make it there own. Paint it a fun color or change the numbers…recycle the piece to fit there needs. I personally love the light color of the wood- it really stands out and seems to represent y’all well.

    Reply to Fawn's comment

  6. Sincerely, Emily on May 11, 2012 at 8:44 am

    Great number plaque and what a great piece of wood. There are numbers on our front porch post, but they are so small and hidden behind trees that they are pretty pointless (and they aren’t even pretty!) Last year we bought a reflective sign through the fire dept.that is put at the end of the driveway for fire and rescue. It isn’t pretty, but it helps.

    Reply to Sincerely, Emily's comment

  7. Turling on May 11, 2012 at 10:07 am

    Well, living in the ‘burbs (HA! Look at that, I just plugged my site), the builder placed on each house a metal light box with black number on opaque plastic. It lights up and is darn near impossible to miss. Although, it is strange in 18 years the bulb has never burned out. I’ve never seen another houses bulb out either and they come on whether you want them to or not.

    Reply to Turling's comment

  8. Allison on May 11, 2012 at 10:10 am

    Actually, our mailbox #’s need redone – they are faded and hard to see. And the cute mosaic tiles with our addy #’s above the garage door are rather pointless I suppose since our driveway is long and you can’t view them from the street! Although, I guess it is extra confirmation for the UPS man when he pulls up!!

    I love the little note you left on the back!

    Reply to Allison's comment

  9. Maybelline on May 11, 2012 at 10:59 am

    THIS is timely. Yesterday I was observing that my house numbers are worthless and need revision. Yours look great.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

    • Maybelline on May 11, 2012 at 10:59 am

      PS…This is a pretty cool real estate advert.

      Reply to Maybelline's comment

  10. Liz J on May 11, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Your house number sign is wonderful! I never thought of doing that ~ GREAT IDEA!!!

    Reply to Liz J's comment

  11. Deb on May 11, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Have the green and white sign by the road for all safety services, God forbid, they be needed. In a rural area we don’t have anything else even on our mailbox.

    Reply to Deb's comment

  12. itchbay on May 11, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    Oh, I love it! How classy! We just have the boring old lighted numbers like everyone else on our street.

    Reply to itchbay's comment

  13. KimH on May 12, 2012 at 4:15 pm

    We have a 3 x 8ish inch copper solar powered number sign on our front porch facing the road.
    (http://www.ecogeekliving.com/coppersolaraddress.html)

    It matches our copper post rail covers so I guess thats why m’honey chose it. The nice thing is that its on all night long & we dont have to worry about turning lights off & on. It even works here in our overcast Cleveland winters without any problems.

    Reply to KimH's comment

  14. Julie on May 25, 2012 at 9:16 am

    I’ve just now discovered your blog and… I love it. You guys are my kind of “power couple”. :)

    Reply to Julie's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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