I bought decal house numbers with a nice font for our mailbox. They have been out in the elements for three years and look fine. I say go for it.

Edited to add, are you seeing all the Chinese posts? lol

Ditto what Dee said. However, I think a decal will look cheap on a door, tbh.

As for mailboxes, maybe find a metal artist on etsy? Otherwise the only way to be distinctive is to paint it an unusual color.

Oh, a subject dear to my heart as I've had a saga with both!

House numbers: Ours has been complicated because our house can't be seen from the street. The PO installed a house numbers sign at the bottom of the driveway. It was in bad shape and it's had to be rebuilt twice. IME anything stick on falls off eventually -- I initially used decals to put the house numbers on the sign. After repainting, I had a stencil of my address made. I found someone online, who sent two or three copies of the stencils and that has worked perfectly. It was the exact script I wanted and I was able to scale the size. I just stenclled the address on the top bar of the sign over the paint (no photo since I don't want to publish my address but it looks great). It would wear much better on a door with a covered porch.

Mailbox. This is a sunset industry -- thank you email. Architectural Mailboxes has the nicest selection I've found. I bought one of theirs ($70). Excellent quality, heavy duty. Mine was large. You may find something you like that will fit. (We had no mailbox previously).

Additionally there are very beautiful Heath ceramic house numbers made by Heath though the style might not suit. Or it might.

You've probably seen all these, but I Googled images for 'wall mount mail box for Colonial House'. See them HERE.

Have you considered french tile numbers? Not very colonial,but very pretty.

I had a custom mailbox made from Dave's Mailboxes. You can google his website. Although mine is a post mount he can probably make you anything you want. I gave him my dimensions and he did. I needed one that could hold large boxes so I asked him to make it a rural size. You can see it in this link if you scroll down through the post. http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/3198216/landscape-before-and-after Other than that, I would check Etsy. There are thousands of custom cute mailboxes that are handmade by artists. BTW, Daves can make you a mailbox that is a miniature of your house. They are so adorable. I didn't do that since my house isn't all that.

Place yourself in this situation:

It's after dark, it's raining or snowing hard, and I'm looking for your house because you called 9-1-1 ... how well have you hidden your address from me? If I can't read it from the street under adverse conditions, it's failing as a house number.

There are a limited number of mailbox styles because they have to satisfy USPS regulations for box size and opening size.

Lazy -- I know, that's why I'm looking for more clear house numbers.

I love those French ones but I think blue on my green/black house would look random.

I thought of getting a plain mailbox like this and putting the house no. decal on it. What do you think? The mailbox side of my door is easier to see from the street than the other side (where the house no is now).

Not necessarily red or orange...but maybe a fun color.

Yes, that totally works. I think decals on the box are fine, decals on the door NSM.

I have nothing to add, but am just in awe (LOL) that your mail comes to your door (literally). I've never lived in the city, so it just kind of blows my mind. We don't even have a mailbox. When we were building, we had sold our home and renting another home, so we opted for a po box. We liked that so well that 20 years later, we still have a po box.

This is kinda blurry...but our numbers have been on at least 5 years. I love them!

Hmmmm...where is my pic? Trying again.

I went through this last year. I bought, and am very happy with, this "Swedish" mailbox in black. My neighbor has one too, but in red. I was very disappointed with the mailboxes of the world. Ours is next to our front door. It is deep, so I would hang it at a comfortable height for reaching all the way down to the bottom.

http://www.mailboxnet.com/wall_mount_mailboxes/mb500_townhouse_mailbox.html

As for house numbers, we have a center hall Colonial and I am still looking for one to go above the mailbox...

I did get one for the lamppost though. It is like the French aluminum plaques but in black with a reflective number. I do love the French tiles posted above, but it wasn't in keeping with the house so I refrained. My sister did the decals you reference on her front door and she is very happy with them. She's had them a few years now and no issues.

I'm with Lazy. First of all you need for your number to be easily and unmistakably read by emergency responders and invited visitors alike. I don't care for the decals at all, but I think house numbers should be functional as identifiers first and foremost.

theclose -- I was looking at that mailbox! It's so cute. Question: is the design printed/painted on? In one pic I looked at, it appeared to be printer on a clear sticker on the box and I thought, ick, that wouldn't look so great. (I like your house number on the post!)

grapefruit -- that is exactly where I'd place my number decal too! What I like about it -- no one else around me has it. What I don't like -- Mtn said it looks cheap. ;) But I might do it anyway.

tina -- when we bought the house, it had a mail slot in the door, so I didn't even have to OPEN the door to get my mail! Then we replaced the front door and I didn't want the mail slot because sometimes, the dog found the mail (on the foyer floor) before I did. So you can imagine how inconvenient it is that I have to actually open the front door and reach over to take the mail from the box. LOL.

rococo -- I looked at the Heath numbers too! So cool looking but I wasn't into the colors that were available.

I think this mailbox is cool (of course because it's the $$$ option) but is it too wacky or modern for my house? The stainless knob would bug me so I'd replace it or at least spray paint it (assuming it's removable). But I love the shape, and the size works. If I got this one, I wouldn't mess with it by adding a decal -- I'd leave it alone (except for the knob).

This one is super boring but could be dressed up with the house no. decal.

http://shop.360yardware.com/Traditional-Mailboxes-Standard-Vertical-Black-4620-BLK.htm

FYI, this is the style of house number I ordered from etsy.

If it matters, my siding is a close match to BM Grecian Green, but brick on the lower half, trim is Linen White, door is Pine Grove (several shades darker than the siding), and shutters are black. I wish I could pull off a fun red or orange mailbox, but next to the brick, I don't think so. As I discovered when we painted the front door a few years ago, it's not easy to find a color that works with the green/brick situation, which is why black might be the best option.

And I know I am spending way too much time and energy on this...

The 90-one?

OK, I actually just went out and looked up at my front entry and realized the real modern mailboxes will not work at all! Back to the hunt...

I think copper might be "different" enough for me and work great with my door hardware.

I think the insanity is over. Pretty sure I'm going to get this guy.

Still on the fence about using the number decal. I like these numbers...

That copper is beautiful - the numbers also.

Wow! You have to put up a "no soliciting" sign too??? I am so sheltered. LOL

Do I "have" to? No. But it makes me nuts when the Greenpeace types show up at 6:30 to ask me to sign something and give them a check. A friend did the same thing, it worked for her, so I copied her!

Gosh, I really like my numbers. I don't think they look cheap...they look painted on.

We sit off of the road so our mailbox with our number is up on the road. The number on our house is purely decorative.

::: foot in mouth :::

I just think that a front door may arguably the most formal element of one's house, so id rather see numbers with relief.

I think a copper mailbox is a good choice ... a bit different but not whacky. And make sure it verdigris!

Nice choice.

I am trying to find a picture of a house from the town we used to live in. It has a painted wooden door, and on the door are very large house numbers, painted wood, iirc, that appear to have fallen. It's so cool, and still very clear as to their number. If I can't find it I will ask a friend to snap a photo!

In the meantime, I found this and want to find a way to steal the idea for the beach.

Mtn, sorry, didn't mean to throw you under the bus. I was trying to be funny.

On a street near us, someone has a similar number system with planters like the above, but they're on her steps. (They also have an "official" number on the house.)

I've wanted to find a giant rock that would be suitable to paint the house number on for our beach house, but I haven't found one (or, I haven't found anyone who will carry it home from the beach for me!).

On etsy, I saw outdoor-fabric pillows that could be customized with the number of your house (or a monogram). That's kind of cute, I think.

Of course, today I had to buy a new plant and planter for the front porch too. Scope creep! I'll be redoing the driveway next ;/

PS I ordered the copper mailbox and the copper numbers. So I'll have the decal and the copper numbers...what was I thinking? I'll decide what to do when they both arrive. I could always put the decal on the back door, silly but maybe sort of cute.

Oh the etsy pillow house numbers are a cute idea. You didn't throw me under the bus, I scooted in there myself.

You may prefer the decal for the contrast.

I shouldn't have but couldn't resist and went on Etsy as suggested. I love this. First of all I'll need a new mailbox post as mine always gets thrown about by the snow plow and usually the box itself is damaged. However this past winter the box came through just fine, except the plate on the post it sits on rusted off! So, I ducted taped the box to the post and hammered a wooden post in front of it and used more duct tape "until I get a new one". That has been months ago. I just went out and taped it again. The old post has to be pulled out and I'd rather find someone else to do that this time. Besides, there are flowers growing about it now.

Anyway, back to the mailbox cover in the photo. The only problem with it I see is that the house number should really be on the side facing traffic for the mailman to see it properly, not on the front. Thinking big numbers on the side may detract from the cuteness. I could remove it over winter to minimize snow plow damage.

Side view:

Sueb, great choice. You are correct- the "post" lettering and horn on the front of my mailbox are decals. I had no idea until it arrived. I have to say I was disappointed in that but I do love the mailbox so there you have it. I guess I shouldn't have expected hand painted for $75.

Schoolhouse, that is so cute.

Yeah, so I ordered the pillow too, with a monogram. In Bright yellow for a bit of zip. The wreath on our front door has yellow flowers in it.

Maybe I need a new doormat too....