Home Mailboxes

Home mailboxes are far more than simply the place your postal carrier leaves utility bills, mortgage statements, advertising flyers from local businesses, and the odd magazine. This is your house, your home, the place you live and are proud of, right? Your mailbox is an important decor element, whether it stands down at the curb or up on the porch by your front door.

Shopping for Home Mailboxes

You needn't settle on the standard models you see at your local hardware store. If you've previously brushed off the mailbox as you might a trashcan or other serviceable household utility item, you'll be surprised at the variety of styles, shapes, finishes, and other options. If you're fully aware of the design potential, you'll enjoy browsing home design magazines and websites for ideas.

Whether yours is a post-mounted mailbox or a wall-mounted model, you'll want one to withstand the elements, be durable, and strike just the right note for your house. That might mean a curbside box that looks like an oversized golf ball or a wooden post-planter, or is built into a brick retaining wall. It might also be an ornate Edwardian wall-mounted model to the right of your front door. You'll find an amazing variety of home mailboxes on the market.

Of course, whatever model and style you settle on, it will need to meet U.S. Postal Service specifications. These apply, in the case of curbside mailboxes, mostly to height from the ground and distance from the curb. The idea is that mail carriers can deliver mail to the mailbox without leaving their vehicle. For entry way and curbside models, the specifications require certain dimensions. The idea here is that all home mailboxes will easily hold a few inches of standard four-inch by 10-inch envelopes as well as folded magazines and circulars.