We closed on our new property not even a month ago. At the end of last week the county finally gave us our new mailing address! You guys…I am so freaking excited!! It’s like getting an address and installing a mailbox solidifies that the dream of owning our own land has come to fruition after 2 long years of waiting! I feel like I had to come up with a mailbox post idea that really spoke to the future state of what we pictured the land was going to look and feel like. I came up with T.H.E. cutest DIY country mailbox post idea and wanted to share it with you for a bit of inspo!
It honestly is not the most budget friendly idea I have planned and worked on, but it’s the country style mailbox that spoke to my heart after quite a bit of searching. Who knew mailboxes, posts and those darn metal numbers could be so pricey! Scroll on down to see how we made it and what it looks like!
The Country Style Mailbox Post Idea I Had Finally Came to Life!
Check out how it came out and how to make one yourself below!
This post may contain affiliate links which means we receive a small commission when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you. As always, we only support products and brands we love and all thoughts and opinions shared here are our own! Click here to see our full disclosure.
Related Post: The Best Gift Ideas for RV Owners
Related Post: THIS Is What We Have Been Dreaming About
Related Post: Why We Have Decided NOT To RV Full Time
Where to find mailboxes and more near you!
Where to find a mailbox and the post were pretty much the hardest part of coming up with this DIY country style mailbox post idea. And finding a country style mailbox that looked pretty, was functional, fit into our rural surroundings and wasn’t uber expensive was a little more difficult than I had imagined.
When you type into the good old Google, “Mailbox store near me” or “Mailbox post near me”, the only stores that come up are big box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot. They were good for hardware and we ended up getting the wooden post from Lowe’s, but the mailbox HAD to be special. All the big box stores had the same generic metal or plastic mailboxes. Those were definitely not going to cut it!
When you type in “Mailbox post idea” or “Country style mailbox” there are quite a few suggestions that come up. There was one picture that caught my eye in my search! It was a wooden, high-barn style mailbox over on Etsy. I have been picturing a She-Shed going onto our land next year with a black and white high barn theme. This mailbox I chose is the exact replica (minus the front porch) of the She-Shed I am planning on purchasing! I was sold!
Websites and stores to search for a country or farmhouse style mailbox:
- AmishHomeOutdoor – The best pricing for quality and tons of amazing reviews!
- AmishToyBox
- DavesCustomMailboxes
- WineBarrelWorkshop
- GoSpecialties
- StoneBridgebyPeg
Make Your Own DIY Country Style Mailbox
Supplies You Will Need:
- The cutest country style mailbox ever!
- 4×4 wooden mailbox post
- Orbit sander
- Orbital sanding discs (80 grit or 120 grit)
- Exterior paint- like this one or this one
- Or paint you have on hand and an exterior finish spray like this one
- Paint roller
- Paint tray
- Paint brushes
- Metal address numbers (x2)- like these or these
- Post hole digger
- Tape measure
- Electric impact gun
- Screws
- Clamps
- Cement
- Extra pieces of wood
- Water
Related Post: 4 of The Best DIY RV Organization Hacks
HOW TO: Now put your mailbox and post together!
- Figure out the style of mailbox you’d like to go for. Could be farmhouse style, country style, or modern. You do you! I listed a few helpful sources above… so browse your heart out until you find the perfect one! Here’s the country style mailbox I fell in love with!
- Come up with a mailbox post idea that fits the style of mailbox you chose. There so many options to choose from- wooden, plastic or even metal. I also listed places you might be able to find those too! Here’s the mailbox post that was available at my local Lowe’s.
- If you picked a wooden mailbox post, I would suggest sanding down any rough edges before you paint it (especially if you bought a 4×4 wooden mailbox post from a big box store). I used a battery operated orbit sander and these hook-loop sanding pads. I even went as far as to round off the edges of the wood to make it less sharp and less modern looking. You may not notice the difference in the pictures, but up close, it looks a bit more rustic and farmhousey with those rounded edges.
- After some sanding, go ahead and paint it. Grab a brush, roller, paint tray, some white paint and get to work!
Pro tip: You can apply thicker coats of paint to the wooden post as long as it’s not so thick you make the paint run. I had to apply about 4 coats of paint since the first 2 layers really soak into the wood.
Super Pro Tip: Paint all sides of your mailbox at one time using a few clamps and scraps of wood like you see below! Positioning the clamps and scrap wood at the bottom of your post will create a sturdy base so you don’t have to keep moving your post to get to every side.
5. You are ready to put your sanded, painted mailbox post in the ground! The hardest part here will be picking the perfect spot for your mailbox. Before you decide where…scroll down to the section below. I provided guidance below on placement of your hole in the “Where to install your mailbox post in the ground section”!
6. Using the post hole digger, dig down about 12 inches or so. Stand your mailbox up in the hole you dug out and measure from the ground to the bottom of where your mailbox will sit.
7. Once your hole is perfectly where you want it, grab your cement, water, clamps and scrap pieces of wood. Prop up your mailbox in the hole with the clamps and scrap pieces of wood so that is standing level. Pour some cement into the hole with a bit of water and mix with anything you see laying around (we seriously used a stick for this part!). Keep mxing in cement and water until you have a good mixture covering about 2/3 of your post in the hole.
8. Stand back and make sure your post remained level and even with the road. Now let the cement cure for a bit.
9. Using a few screws or the hardware your mailbox came with, attach your mailbox to the mailbox post with an electric impact gun. We attached ours on the inside like this below. Or use the instructions that came with your mailbox, if any.
10. Attach your metal numbers to each side of the post. We picked a spot to align the first number with and then used 1 inch spacing between each number.
11. When your cement is fully cured, remove the clamps and the scrap wood, stand back and admire your work of art!
12. Dress up your newly installed DIY country style mailbox with some accessory ideas that I found below!
Where to install your mailbox post in the ground:
According to USPS guidelines, you’ll want to make sure that the “floor of your mailbox” sits 6-8 inches back from the road edge and 41-45 inches up from the road surface. These are USPS rules for a new mailbox, not mine!
So for where you want to install your mailbox post in the ground, start with a general area near your house or driveway that looks good. You’ll want to make sure its far enough from your driveway that you won’t accidently run it down pulling in or backing out. Seems silly but I’m sure mailbox hit and runs are happening everyday out there!
Once you found your spot, you’ll want to start this hole about 6-8 inches back from the road edge. Too far back and your mailman will have to drive on your grass. Too far forward and likely someone will drive by and take it out!
Next, you’ll need to make sure that the bottom inside, or floor of your mailbox is about 41-45 inches from the road surface. If you’re installing your a slope, make sure you take that into consideration. In order to get the height of your mailbox just right, dig out your hole a bit more or cut off a few inches of your mailbox post. If your post is taller than the 41-45 inch requirement, keep adjusting the hole depth or length of your post.
While we finished this much of our DIY country mailbox and installed it, we aren’t finished yet! There are a few accessories that we will add sometime in the spring when we are living on our property full time. With all the construction going on and heading into the winter (where flowers definitely won’t survive!) we won’t be adding too much more…for now!
Other Unique Amazon Mailboxes I Found
Dress it up! Cute Country Style Mailbox Accessories
If you love this post, share it!
Hope you enjoyed this easy DIY Country Mailbox Post Idea! Tag us on Instagram @thisbudgetbuild to show us what your mailbox looks like!
Other Posts You Might Enjoy!
THIS Is What We Have Been Dreaming About
I can’t believe we are at the point where we are physically writing this down for everyone to see!!! We have dreamed about this for so long! We never thought we would be thinking about making this happen and yet, here we are- looking and planning, running numbers over and over, and going out there to figure out how to make it happen!! OK,OK…so here it goes….. we are putting it out there into the world, into the universe, and hoping we don’t sound like we have gone off our rockers!!…
Why We Have Decided NOT To RV Full Time
Call us crazy and maybe even against the norm, but today’s post is all about why we have officially decided NOT to go full time in our RV. Find out what we learned about ourselves along our journey so far and why we are deciding to opt for a home base instead!
