My *New* {spray painted} and Improved Mailbox!

Wow, what a weekend here in Northern California! Sorry to all the folks buried in snow, but it was in the high 70s {dare I tell you 80s} this weekend.
I just had to spend some time outside.  So, after I finished pruning removing a large unsightly bush from my front yard…the one I have been threatening to remove since we moved in {was that really 2 years ago?} I took one last and final look at my mailbox and decided today is the day I am going to tackle another project I’ve wanted to do since we moved…PAINT MY MAILBOX!

You know what is so super exciting about this? It’s on my 2011 House Goals list!  That means I get to cross something else off.  Yay me!  I’ve already crossed of #6 and #7…this will put a check mark next to item #10.

Seriously, take a look at it:

Isn’t she a beauty? I believe it’s original. I can only hope the things I buy today will last 60 years.
They just don’t make -em like they used to.

At any rate…styles have changed through the years, and the gold just isn’t doing it for me. It’s the first thing you see when you approach my house, so I
figured I’d better bring it into the 21st century.

Since most of the accents in our home are oil rubbed bronze, and I already had this oil rubbed bronze spray paint from RUST-OLEUM {left over from painting my cabinet hinges from my kitchen remodel- one day I’ll get that posted} I decided to go for it.

And since it’s Rustoleum, it’s good indoors AND out and won’t rust when it starts raining again
{and it will start raining again- boo hoo!}

So I got out all of my materials:
~spray paint
~tarp
~painter tape
~steel wool {to clean mailbox and scrape off old stickers}
~soap/water/rag {to clean before painting}
~screwdrivers

And removed the mailbox from the post.



Lookin’ better already!

Next I removed the old stickers with our address numbers and used some steel wool and soapy water to clean it.
I could have used something like Goof-Off to do a better job, but I’m going to buy some new ones to cover it up again…so no matter.


I covered up the flag which I wanted to stay pink red.


And finally it was time to give this box a new look.


{Those aren’t streaks on the side, it’s dew from taking the ‘after picture’ the following morning.}

In less than an hour the front of my house went from this:

To this:

I’d say that’s a HUGE improvement! 
And the best part, it cost me nothing.

Oh, by the way…did you know you can paint screws. I did this with my kitchen cabinets. I painted the gold hinges and screws when I painted the cabinets white.  So I just popped the screws off the mailbox, poked them through a piece of junk mail, and gave a quick shot of spray. It really makes a difference.

Next up on my spray painting list:
~2 bedroom lamps
~a dozen+ frames in the family room
~a bathroom chandelier
~the huge mirror over my dresser
~I think there’s 10 more that I’m forgetting right now

Do you love spray painting? 
What projects have you done?

I’m linking up here: