DIY Home Number Plaque

I’ve been so excited about moving into our new home I’ve been preparing a whole tonne of things before we make the move. Including buying all new decorative items to eventually make our new home look pretty once we’ve finished the renovation. I’ve recently been packing up all of our stuff and it made me quiet sad that I wont be able to display any of our new purchases for quiet some time whilst our home is a building site.

But the exterior of the property is fine for the mean time. So that’s where I’m going to start. I’m envisioning plant pots with colourful flowers with bees and butterflies surrounding them and I’m picturing a beautiful front door which is welcoming to all. I’ve decided to start off small and do what I think is the most exciting part of the front exterior decor, the number plaque!

I’ve said to Bradley that this house was meant to be from the very beginning, simply because it’s number is 23. The same number that I grew up in as a child, and the same number that has traveled with me and always had a little place in my heart.

The interior of our home will eventually be quiet natural, with a country/farm house type of feel so I wanted to stick with that theme on the outside too. I was searching around on Door Furniture Direct trying to decide what kind of numbers I wanted. I couldn’t chose between brass and black but eventually I chose black and I’m so glad I did. I went for the iron antique looking ones because I knew they’d fit my style well.

I also sourced a cut off from a tree from my local car boot. I wanted something very natural and real, as I know you can get fake ones of these from places like The Range but I know up close they don’t look anywhere near as good. I picked quiet an average sized piece, and one with some good colours in the grains. I love the one I chose because it also had a little point coming off the bottom, which I thought made it kind of look like a speech bubble!

Attaching the numbers was a simple job, although I got Bradley to do it as I was terrified of splitting the wood! The hardest part was making sure they looked straight and inline with each other. So using pencil I carefully dotted inside the numbers drill holes onto the wood so we would know exactly where to screw them into. The went on easier than we thought as we just ended up using a screwdriver not a drill to put them in.

I made tiny little holes so it made the job easier. I thought about waxing the wood to give it a different finished, so I tried some dark wax on the back but honestly it looked stupid and basically removed any look of the grains and lines so I quickly pied that idea. As soon as we screwed in the numbers I was so thankful that I went with black as it looked so vintage and homely, whereas if I went with brass I don’t think it would give the same effect.

(Please excuse Bradleys stubby man hands) I’m so pleased with how this has turned out! I can’t wait to display it when we move next week (EEEEK!). I plan on drilling it to the brick wall next to the front door so it can be seen clearly from afar, and because of its little speech bubble shape I can make it look like the front door is saying “number 23!” (I’m easily amused). There will be lots of home posts coming up in the next few months, including renovation posts about room progress, so I’m sorry if you’re not into dirty photos of broken down walls and ceilings but you’ll just have to get used to it over here for a little while.

I will be posting a whole tonne of images and videos over on my home instagram account here: @ourlovely_home. We will both be sharing lots of updates, including little home tours. I’m already so excited for before and after shots! I’ve been trying to find interior or home renovation Instagram accounts and blogs to follow so if you have any recommendations I would love to see them.