How to Repurpose a Vintage Find that is Not Haunted

I love when I find something I did not know I needed for my home. I love to figure out how to repurpose a vintage find. And, I love it more when I find a way how to repurpose a find that is vintage and not haunted.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

I went thru a vintage store phase where, in between work or social commitments, I would stop into this popular vintage store south of Denver.

Ond day, in between the farmhouse finds and antiques I found a brassy, metal mailbox. I love mailboxes and sadly our suburban neighborhood does not have the individual mailboxes.

How to Repurpose a Vintage Find

I studied up on vintage mailboxes as I contemplated what to do with my find. Did you know in 1923 it was mandatory that every home had a mailbox? You can read the reason why here.

The challenge to repurpose a vintage find is to make sure it works with your home. And, just as important to make sure the vintage find is not haunted.

I learned this suggestion the hard way when my mother “gifted” me and my husband an antique rocking chair. It had been her family for a few generations in the Appalachian Mountains. It was covered in what appeared to be decades of dust.

My husband never liked this chair. I would find it in the garage for a variety of reasons; it was tilted, it was not safe for a child. Finally, my husband confided he was completely creeped out by the rocking chair.

Kind of like our basement in our first home. I’ll save that for another day.

He found a reason to haul it to the garage when the rocking chair mysteriously cracked-

better the rocking chair leg, than my husband. #wink

Thankfully, the mailbox was non-threatening. I planned to have it next to our back door to hold keys or dog leases. Unfortunately, neither keys nor dog leashes were needed next to the door that leads to the backyard.

Needless to say, that mailbox went around the block (house) a few times before it found its forever home in my home office.

With an ongoing office refresh, the vintage mailbox found a new home in my office, right next to the door. I painted it a sloppy coat of Hale Navy paint to give a pop of color on the Revere Pewter  walls.

Of course, I did not grab a before photo. Epic blog fail!

And, in hindsight the brassy finish would look amazing in my recently repainted home office.

This vintage mailbox was a cute addition above the light switch. I loved the serendipity moment when I realized the mailbox ended up next to a door. Maybe not the front door, but my home office door.

Serendipity, right? 

With the tiny door lift, centered on the front of the mailbox, the mailbox was ready for a re-purposed life.

Although this mailbox no longer holds the local newspaper I want to find a purpose for the scrolled arms.

Please leave any suggestions in the comments.

But, what I love most about this mailbox is it reminds us of the low tech version of mail delivery.

The little key entry on the front panel reminds us of a simple version of security.

In today’s email packed inboxes, this vintage mailbox find no longer holds mail; instead, it holds the stories from homeowners past.

Thank you for stopping by and please check out other repurposed projects here.

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