Displaying House Numbers Creatively

One of the projects last week for week 4 in the Curb Appeal Challenge was to make my house numbers more visible.

House Number Visibility Problems

Remember my before picture?  Can you spot my house numbers?  No?  Yeah neither can the pizza delivery guy.    That’s a big problem!

To keep my family fed I need these house numbers easily seen from the street.

My  simple solution is to add our house address into our landscaping.

The large rock in my flower bed became the perfect billboard for some suburban graffiti.

Can’t you hear him begging to be painted?

Ok, maybe he isn’t begging but everything I own has paint on it and this clean rock is taunting me.   He must go under the brush!

 

Print out House Numbers

To start with, I typed my numbers on Microsoft Word and then printed them from my printer.   I then cut out the numbers and set them on my rock to make sure they were the size and look I wanted.

I decided I liked the size so I went back and cut the numbers out completely.   Next, I taped the house numbers back on the rock traced them with chalk.

Painting on the Numbers

I used Sign Painters 1 shot paint for this project.  (Affiliate links for the products used in this project will be listed at the bottom of the page for your convenience)

1 Shot lettering paint is an oil base interior/exterior gloss enamel used by artists.  Since I’m a huge fan of this stuff,  I have a nice supply in my basement leftover from previous projects.

This paint is wonderful to paint with and it’s incredibly durable.

It’s also fade resistant which makes it perfect for my rock project.  Keep in mind that since it’s oil based, you will need turpentine or turpenoid to clean your brushes.

Now armed with my favorite paint, all that was left to do was to lie in the dirt for an afternoon and paint some house numbers on a rock.  ( I make it sound so alluring don’t I?  lol)

The painting part was fairly easy.  Painting on a bumpy curved rock was less than dreamy but it wasn’t that bad.    The hardest part of the project was dealing with me being me.

See, I have a tendency to spill paint and any other liquid for that matter.  It started when I was small with milk and kool-aid at the dinner table and over the years have honed in my skills to large gallon sized buckets of paint.

It took a lot of practice but I’ve gone pro in the spilling game.   Don’t ask; I can’t explain it.   It’s just what I do, I’m a spiller.

But I did try to be neat on this project and set out to be super careful.  I had my workspace set up, my rags ready and a little caddy to neatly hold my paint and brushes.   I was well on my way to protecting myself from myself.  Quick, easy and CLEAN was the goal.

And I was doing so well for the first 30 seconds of the project.  Then I opened the can of black paint.  Much to my dismay, it looked like my black paint had dried up.   So I tested it by poking the top of the dried paint with a stick.  Turns out it wasn’t completely dry and under the thin layer of solid paint squirted up a geyser of thick gooey black paint.  In about 2 seconds, it was all over my hands, arms and neck.

Remember how I said this paint is incredibly durable?  Yes it doesn’t come off.  Several showers later I still looked like I made my living as a car mechanic and I’ve just completed an oil change.  For the next three days, every time I looked in the mirror I could hear the theme song from the Beverley Hillbillies playing in the back my head.  I was the picture of loveliness.

But the rock is done and the numbers are visible from the street.

Now if you are not a painter there are other options.  You could always buy house numbers and using masonry adhesive, glue the address numbers to the rock.

Don’t have a landscape rock?  Then you may want to check out my friend Heather over at The Deans List and her House Number Planter with no Power Tools

 

Also this week, I have been working on the porch.  I found some great planters from AtHome and have been filling them with plants.

I also found this super cute door mat at Target.

That about wraps up this week.  Be sure to come back next week and see the final outcome and reveal for the Curb Appeal Challenge.  And don’t forget to check out all the week 4 projects from my fellow friends and curb appeal challengers.

 

Curb Appeal Project List

• Replace dead bushes, Clean up landscaping & Add flowers
• Clean up Porch
• Paint Porch Bench White
• Add  Pillows and Fun décor
• Create some sort of Welcome Sign for the Porch
• Add Decorative House Numbers
• Add Landscape Lighting
• Paint the Front Door
• Create a Wreath or Door decoration
• Fix the faded Garage Side Lights

In case you missed a week , here are the links to each week of the challenge…

Week 1 , The Curb Appeal Challenge Begins    Week 2 , Pinwheel Bouquet Tutorial    Week 3, Easy Upcycled Porch Planter   Week 4, Displaying House Numbers Creatively   Week 5, Curb Appeal Challenge Reveal….Welcome Home Porch Décor 

          

Now check out the week 4 projects from the other curb appeal challengers. I can’t wait to see what they have been up to…

Simple Nature Decor

Seeking Lavender Lane

The Deans List 

Mom Home Guide

Curly Crafty Mom

My Life From Home

Lehman Lane

Knock It Off Kim

A Designer At Home

Our House now a Home ‎

 

Happy Creating,

A special Thank you to our sponsors for this challenge:

 

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Amazon Affiliate Links for Project Supplies

1-Shot 101-L Lettering Enamel White
1-Shot 199-L Lettering Enamel Black 4 Ounce
Martin/ F. Weber Weber 8-Ounce Odorless Turpenoid

 

 

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Displaying House Numbers Creatively

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