As the saying goes, "Sometimes, its the little things that make a big difference".... or is it "Sometimes, its the little things that can make you go bat-sh*t crazy insane"??

For me, it's probably the latter.

Ever since we moved in last May, we have had to deal with one of the world's ugliest and LOUDEST mailboxes ever...

See it? Up there, to the left of the (what-we-think-at-one-point-in-time-was-the-front-door-but-is-now-just-a-huge) window?

Here's a better close up shot.

*Our address has been blurred to protect the guilty*

Yes, that dirty, icky, awful, tacky, bull-nose ring contraption is our mailbox.  I wish I would have taken a video of how loud it is when it opens, but just think of the sound of nails on a chalk board, mixed with the melody of a fork/knife slipping on a plate, and accompanied by screws and bolts in a blender, and THAT is pretty much the noise.

So I bet you can guess my excitement when I jumped up and down with my fist in the air found this AWESOME new mailbox from my Pottery Barn Outlet shopping trip last week.

It may not be outlet prices, but you can still buy them from Pottery Barn.com as seen HERE

The kicker? It was on CLEARANCE! Pottery Barn price: $49.00... Outlet price: $16.97... Clearance Price: $8.47!!! Whaa-whaa?!?!

I put it under my arm like a football and made a bee-line for the checkout like someone was about to try and tackle me if they saw how awesome of a score this mailbox was.

Update: I made a safe checkout (no one even tried tackling me... sad face... for ONCE I want to be involved in a shopping brawl like in the movies... then come home victorious, with a black eye, and brag to Chris while mounting my treasure on the mantle like the trophy I'm sure it is... ... ... sigh, someday...someday)

The only thing that I had to change on this awesome mailbox was the color.  Normally I would leave it that oiled-rubbed bronze-y color, but since our shutters, roof, and the address plaque that my mom got for us when we moved in were all black, I thought it would look best if they all matched.

Enter, my good friend, spray paint...
Oddly enough, Home Depot doesn't sell metallic spray paint in black (unless you want it textured, which I think is gross) so my H.D. paint buddy Mack hooked me up with a can of black in a satin finish... (and by "hooked me up", I mean he suggested I give it a try and then had me pay for it... no free rides over here)
 Giving it a couple light coats, I was pleasantly surprised that the metallic aspect of the mailbox was actually glimmering through...

Here you can see the contrast of the before/after...

don't worry, I gave the inside a spray down too :-)

As I spray painted with light-even coats, my wonderful, good-looking, hunky husband took down the old mailbox and put it in a pile for Goodwill.... can I get an "AMEN!"?!?! Hallelujah!
Chris was also doing something else far less important than what I consider a life or death ordeal, so I gave my little mailbox a pep talk and let him soak in his future surroundings until Chris was ready to put him up.
 A couple screws and some leveling later, he was in!!
 **disclaimer, I know my husband looks like he's about to go to a Monster Truck rally/sleepover with his torn shirt/torn sweatpants combo.... but I would like to point out a couple things: 1. He never dresses like this during the week (I have a very large bill from Nordstroms to prove it) 2. The dude has some VERY muscular good-lookin' arms and if he wants to show them off to the world me during the weekends, I guess it's ok. 3. He's breaking in that retro AZ Diamondbacks hat for when we go see my boys play at Wrigley Field this July.  I'm a HUGE supporter of Dallas teams so I'm THRILLED that he's joying my excitement to see one of my Zona teams.

Anyway, here's the new and improved view of the mailbox.
 And a close up...
So for $8.47 and $2.49 for a can of spray, we have a very sexy looking new mailbox!

Do you guys like it? Where is your mailbox at your house? Up near your door or down by your driveway? Props to our mailman for walking to each door everyday!

-Samm