Modern Mailbox

It seems only fitting that my first entry is something completed yesterday, so as the premier feature I offer an alternative to obnoxiously priced modern mailboxes.  You must be handy, or, as I am fortunate enough to have, a handy partner who can engineer your vision into reality with a bit of basic carpentry skills.  So you’ve googled “modern mailbox” only to find that $400-$4,000 a pop isn’t quite what you can rationalize in your budget.  So you start thinking……Can I (or someone dear to me) MAKE something that will suit my taste and not break the bank?

I too have lusted over the Neutra numbers on DWR, but again, $75 each….enter research mode.

WestOn Letters’ (link below) website provides my numbers at a budget price -I choose “deep ribbon” with spacers.  Cost about $85 for all 3.  I sketch out my vision of simplicity to be translated by my crafty counterpart into real measurements.  Wood, deck stain, gravel brought the grand total up to about $125.

modfrugal mailbox

modfrugal mailbox  modfrugal mailbox

 

 

Pressure treated dog eared fence pickets screwed together on a frame with stainless steel screws.  He cut the curve for the mailbox with a reciprocating saw and built a platform within the column for the mailbox to sit. We used our old mailbox so that cost is not included in our budget.  Gravel at the base serves 2 purposes – keeps the look minimalist, but also keeps the wood off the dirt so it won’t rot, despite being pressure treated.  We put a sheet of plastic under the gravel as well as an additional moisture barrier.  The roof between the side walls is pitched at a slant  (shed roof) for water runoff.

Found the mossy stones in my yard to finish the look and voila!

WestOn Letters site

modfrugal mailbox

modfrugal mailbox

 

UPDATE: I’ve added this to the FAQ since I get it a lot!

Q: How is the mailbox attached to the ground?

A: It’s not! The box we built for the mailbox housing is a sleeve with a crossbar that the metal mailbox is mounted upon. The original post in the concrete is still under there to keep it from falling over or getting knocked over.