Installing house numbers on the front of your home is an easy and inexpensive way to add a personal touch to your home. PLUS it increases the likelihood that emergency responders can quickly get help to you. But why go through the effort of mounting new address numbers if visitors (including the Uber driver) can’t see them? Here’s a quick run-through of choosing and mounting visible house numbers that are both eye-catching decorative AND functional.
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My Experience
Recently I volunteered to inventory old houses on my town’s List of Significant Sites (I’m on the Historical Commission). With a list of addresses in hand, I walked (and drove) neighborhoods searching for houses.
And I was SHOCKED at how difficult it was to find address numbers on houses!! Some homes had no address numbers. Some had address signs, but they were SO difficult to view from the road. And it was even worse at night.
Why Are Visible House Numbers So Important?
1. Emergency
Every second counts during an emergency. Precious time could be lost getting emergency services to your home without clearly marked home numbers.
If your street numbers are hard to find, either buy new ones or move them to a more conspicuous place so that in case of emergency, emergency services like the fire dept, can quickly find your home.
2. Deliveries
DoorDash, Uber, UPS driver, and mail carrier, etc… We love these folks, right? They have things we want delivered. And we want them delivered asap. To be honest, one of our neighbors does not have their street numbers in a clear, obvious place. And they love their DoorDash. I can’t tell you how many times DoorDash uses our address plague to get their bearings.
3. Curb Appeal
Increasing your home’s curb appeal makes a great first impression to your visitors. There’s a variety of simple, inexpensive curb appeal improvements that you can do – from a freshly painted front door to a new set of house numbers.
Tips for Eye-Catching Visible House Numbers
If you’re going to pick out and mount house numbers in front of your house, you might as well do it right! Here’s 10 things to consider to mount eye-catching visible house numbers that are practical AND still stylish.
1. Size
The first consideration for visible house numbers are their size. Your house numbers needs to be large enough to be easily viewable from the street. Most municipalities require house numbers to be at least 4 inches tall. But check your local ordinances to confirm.
If your home is set significantly back from the street, buy as large numbers as you can fit without be gaudy. There are so many different sizes to choose, with little effort you can find the right size that does the job and fit the exterior design of your home.
2. Contrasting Color or Finish
For increased visibility, the color or finish of your house numbers should be in sharp contrast to its background. Create a light and dark contrast between the background and house numbers to make the house numbers jump.
Mounting house numbers on a dark navy blue house? Use white numbers. Installing your address on a white house or fence? Try an eye-popping red or other dark accent color or dark background that coordinates with the rest of the exterior. Have textured home, like brick or stone? Consider mounting modern house numbers on a backplate like Brittany at Pretty Handy Girl.
3. Darkness
In addition to the color or finish of house numbers being in sharp contrast to its background, they also should be easy to spot at night. It gets fairly dark early here in New England during the winter, so we need to ensure our house number is illuminated so that we keep the Amazon delivery person safe and happy!
Install your house numbers in an adequately lit area. If installing near the front door, the area is probably already lit. But if installing your house numbers in a different location, such as at a gate or fence, consider illuminating house numbers with light or reflective coatings.
4. Height
In general, street number should be placed higher than 4.5 feet, but lower than 6 feet.
However, that being said, many homes like the one pictured below, have the perfect empty space above the front door. And bonus points for placing street numbers up there since it can be an awkward spot to decorate.
5. Angle
Wherever you chose to mount address signs, be sure to teat that visitors (especially those fun party guests!) can see the numbers from a wide range of angles. Before mounting, test this by having a family member or friend hold your new house numbers while you walk around and test their visibility from various angles.
Are there too many trees? Large post in the way? If so, consider other places to hang your house numbers.
5. Font
Improve the visibility of your house numbers by choosing the right font style. Thin, script font styles are more difficult to view from the street. Thick, wide, boldface fonts with bigger numbers are designed for better visibility. After a tour of over 1,100 blocks with his zip code, Dan Kois found house numbers were 3 times more likely to have a traditional thicker font than a sleek modern fonts.
But choosing a thicker more straight forward font doesn’t mean you are giving up style or uniqueness. There are a ton of house numbers that can easily match a décor or architectural style.
Not sure of which font style best matches your personal style and home’s architecture? Here’s a trick. Print and cut out your house numbers (4 inches or bigger) in various fonts using your computer’s word processing program (Microsoft Word, Google Docs). Tape them up, stand back and compare.
6. Architectural Style
While not essential, your address sign should be a reflection of the design and architectural style. For example, if you own a Victorian style house, you probably shouldn’t mount ultra- modern house numbers. It would look out of place, right? Sure you want street numbers to be visible, but not gaudy, right?
Use your home’s architectural features as a guide to ensure your street’s sign design compliments your home.
7. Spacing
In addition to size and font, it’s also important to space them for ideal readability. (apparently the professional term is “kerning”). If your house numbers are spaced too closely to each other they could be hard to read.
But before you swing that hammer and mount your house numbers on the front of your house, make a tracing on them on paper, cut them out, and then tape then where you want them to go. Walk down to the street to view and decide if the numbers are spaced appropriately.
8. Second Set
Finding the perfect spot to install your house numbers can sometimes be the trickiest part. Ideally house numbers should be placed near the front porch light.
But sometimes your front porch is not easily viewed from the street. In that case, consider a second set of house numbers. Perhaps your home is set too far back, or trees or bushes block visibility of your front door from the road. In that case, mount a second set on a post, fence or tree at the driveway entrance so they can clearly be seen from the street.
Avoid placing house numbers on a garage.
Live on a corner? Ensure the house number faces the street that matches your address BUT also consider signage on the other street with guidance, like my neighbor in this photo.
9. Weather-Resistant
Most house numbers come in all-weather finishes sealed with a lacquer or glaze. Nonetheless, since house addresses will be exposed to the outdoor elements, be sure to choose a quality material that is durable and weather-resistant so that your house numbers on the front of your house will look good for years to come.
Metal, wood, and plastic are all great options.
10. Mailbox
In addition to installing house numbers on front porch or door, consider also adding visible house numbers on your free-standing mailbox (if you have one). A few tips?
- Use a contrasting color to the mailbox
- Choose reflective numbers or install a light
- For a classic look, mount a sign above or below mailbox (instead of stickers)
- Number both sides of the mailbox so that it can be seen by vehicles approaching from either direction
Wrapping Up
Using these tips will guide you to find the perfect visible house numbers that are both functional and personal.
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