Novel house numbers

Boost your home’s kerb appeal with these creative house-number ideas.

Aside from helping the postman, the pizza-delivery guy, visitors and the occasional florist, a house number is often the only way that emergency responders such as the police, fire department and paramedics can find their way to you. The good news is that you can have a house number that is both functional and decorative if you keep a few things in mind…

House numbers – the dos and don’ts

• Do make sure that they match the overall design and ‘feel’ of your home.
• Do display them clearly on the house (at eye level or higher), on the post box and even the kerb. That way, if one number becomes obstructed, you will still be able to see the others.
• Do choose large numerals that are easy to hang and are bold and wide enough to be spotted easily from the street.
• Do opt for a solid material that can withstand the elements. Most house numbers come in all-weather finishes and are sealed with lacquer or glaze. Also keep them well maintained – faded, broken or missing/incomplete numbers can’t help anyone.
• Do make sure that the numbers are not blocked from view by trees, overgrown shrubs or other objects.
• Don’t hang numbers too close to a light source that can outshine or overshadow them.
• Don’t paint them on the front of a post box but rather on the side of the box that faces oncoming traffic.
• Don’t opt for brass or bronze numbers if you can help it – they tend to become ‘invisible’ no matter what kind of light shines on them, and they also blend in with any background.
• Don’t choose such an elaborate font style that the numbers aren’t clearly distinguishable or can be mistaken for other numbers – ones (1) that look like sevens (7), for instance.
• Don’t use Roman numerals (most people won’t be able to decipher them).

10 novel house-number ideas:

• Spell the numbers out (‘thirty’ instead of 30) or use a mixture of the two (‘one-2-eight’ for 128). You can even spell out your entire address (28 Cactus Street, for example).
• Stencil them onto a wall in reflective paint.
• Run them vertically, horizontally or in a stepped pattern.
• Light them from above or below, making sure that the light doesn’t ‘outshine’ them. A good idea is to have numbers laser-cut out of a metal plate and lit up from behind (so the light shines straight through the numbers).
• ‘Imprint’ them into a concrete slab, wall or pillar while still wet.
•  Hang them from a kerbside garden post (facing oncoming traffic).
•  Paint them directly onto the front door if it’s close enough to the street (glossy black door with white numbers, for instance).
• Theme them: Art Deco; Victorian; hand-hammered, from-the-forge look; filigree detail, etc
• Frost them onto a glass entryway.
• Use hand-glazed clay, terracotta, ceramic or porcelain tiles (for a Mediterranean feel, as mosaic art, or as a decorative border or frame around the numbers).