house numbers

House numbers can make a big difference when it comes to the look of your home.  It is something that most people don’t think of, when they are looking at a home.  Having a nice house address plaque won’t help an ugly house look better, but it can often be a great finishing touch for high end homes.  Strangely enough, you may not notice nice house numbers, simply because they look like they “belong”.  At the same time, ugly house numbers will definitely stand out.

The next time you pick up a copy of Architectural Digest, look at the exteriors of high end homes.  High end houses look upscale from the front because of landscaping, lighting, and of course, the house address sign.  This is especially true in areas such as golf course and gated communities.  There are many different styles for house numbers, and picking a set can be overwhelming.

House number plaques can be made of many materials including stainless steel, brushed aluminum, wood, plexiglass, lexan, etc. Depending on the material used, it may be raw (such as stainless steel/brushed aluminum), routed (when a material is carved out from the inside), painted, etc. Low end signs may simply use decals on top of a base material. Contemporary homes will usually have material such as brushed aluminum or lexan house address signs. Rustic houses, log cabins, summer cabins may have signed carved out of wooden material for the organic look & feel.

There are many different fonts available for house numbers.  If you are looking for a custom house sign, you can also design your own logo/graphic and choose a custom font.  When you are choosing a font, keep in mind that scripted letters may be hard to see.  If you live in a neighborhood without street lighting, you may want to consider solar house numbers for increased visibility.  Depending on the set back of your home, you may want to consider moving the sign closer to the main road or installing larger house numbers.

Installing your house numbers on a mounted lawn plaque or post may be a good idea, if your house is set back extremely far from the road. Keep in mind however, that you may need to limit your choices if you do not already have an existing outdoor electrical connection. It can be extremely costly to run a new conduit to a lawn sign, as you will need to have the lawn dug up, conduit installed, wire run, etc.