DIY House Shaped Mailbox

One of my favorite motifs is the house shape. It just does it for me! So I thought I could make a DIY house shaped mailbox to hold my mail. As a fun detail, I’m going to make it look like my house too!

inspiration

The inspiration for this project is the house shaped mailbox from the movie Little Women (the 1994 version). I LOVE how Laurie gives Jo the mailbox as a gift for joining her society. It’s so cute! So I thought I’d re-create the idea in my colors.

My current mailbox is absolutely fine, but I want something spectacular, so let’s start building!

mailbox regulations

The United States Postal Service has regulations for mailbox sizes and construction. You can find them here.

If you build your own mailbox or buy a custom-made one, it must meet the Post Master General’s standards. Show your local postmaster your mailbox plans or your custom-made box for approval.

Here are the two standards they list for the mailbox size-

Put your house or apartment number on the mailbox.
If your mailbox is on a different street from your house or apartment, put your full street address on the box.

how to make a diy house shaped mailbox

Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. It’d mean so much if you’d watch the video! I’m trying to get better at my video skills so I can grow my YouTube channel. If you have a few minutes to watch this and/or subscribe, I’d so appreciate it.

SUPPLIES

Tools

step 1- cut the wood

For the wood for this project, I’m using wood I had on hand. These are leftovers from other projects.

For the sides, I’m using Siding. Later, I ended up regretting that and wish I’d have bought a 1″ x 12″ x 6′ Pine Board to use instead. I made it work, but a thicker board would have been better.

To begin, cut the wood for the mailbox to the following sizes-

side pieces

2 – 1″ x 12″ x 19″ (the two pieces that make up the sides)

Cut the side pieces 12″ tall with the table saw. Then cut the tops on a 45 degree angle with the table saw. I’m using house siding for the sides that I had on hand.

Cut the sides 19″ long on the table saw.

base piece

1 – 1″ x 8″ x 19″ (the base piece)

Cut the base piece of lumber 8″ wide on the table saw.

Then, trim it to 19″ long on the miter saw.

roof pieces

1 – 1″ x 8″ x 21″ (one roof piece)

Cut one roof piece 8″ wide on the table saw.

Then take it to the miter saw and cut it 21″ long on the miter saw.

1 – 1″ x 7-1/4″ x 21″ (the second roof piece)

Cut the second roof piece 7-1/4″ wide on the table saw.

Then take it to the miter saw and cut it 21″ long on the miter saw.

support pieces

2- 1″ x 1-1/2″ x 17-1/2″(support beams)

Because I’m using thinner outdoor siding on the side pieces, they need support pieces for the roof to attach to. Cut the support beams on a 45 degree angle on the table saw so they are 1-1/2″ tall.

Then, use the miter saw to cut both support beams to be 17-1/2″ long.

front and back piece

2- 1″ x 8″ x 15-1/8″ (the front and back pieces)

Note, we cut this at the end of the next step, putting the mailbox together. However, I put the measurements here so you can cut it with all the other pieces.

Next, use the table saw to cut two pieces of lumber 15-1/8″ long.

Find the center in the top and use a Speed Square to draw a 45 degree angle from the top center to the sides. The sides should measure 11-1/8″ from the bottom. Use a miter saw to cut the angle in the top.

step 2- put the diy house shaped mailbox together

And now, let’s start putting the DIY house shaped mailbox together!

To do that, start with the roof. Use corner clamps to hold them in place. The longer board should go on top with the smaller board under it. When it’s all lined up, screw the two roof pieces together.

Next, attach the sides to the base. Raise the base of the mailbox up around 1/4″ by resting it on another board. Pre-drill and drive 5 screws through each side of the bottom of the 1″x12″x19″ side pieces into the base 1″x8″ piece.

Repeat for the second side.

Attach the support beams to the inside top of the sides with 3/4″ long screws.

Drill in 4 screws to hold the support beams to the to the side pieces. Use clamps to hold the support beam in place next to the the side board so they don’t move while attaching the screws. Put a 8″ wide spacer board on top. Keep the base square with corner clamps on the bottom.

Attach the roof to the sides.

Center the roof onto the walls of the mailbox. Clamp an 8″ spacer board onto the top of the mailbox so the sides will be straight. Drill a 1-1/4″ screw in through the roof- it’ll go through the side piece and support piece.

Use 4 screws for each side of the roof.

Put the back piece of the mailbox in place. If it doesn’t fit, trim it down until it does. Then screw it into place.

For the front door piece, dry fit it to see how it fits.

Next, it’ll probably need to be cut a little smaller (about 1/16″) than the back piece so that it’ll open and close easily. If needed, cut down the sides and bottom so it’ll fit loosely.

Remember, the bottom of this door will also have hinges so there needs to be space for those to be mounted.

Here is how house shaped mailbox looks like when its constructed-

step 3- route in the windows and doors

And now, let’s work on adding the windows and doors to the mailbox pieces.

To begin, place the door on the mailbox door. I’m putting mine at the bottom and centering it. Measure half way over on the door of the mailbox. Mark with a pencil where that is. Put the door on the center mark and trace around the door.

Now it’s time to make an indent in the wood so the door can sit inside the wood so it looks like a dollhouse.

For the door, use a Router to cut deeper into the wood everywhere where the door will go. The door (and its trim) needs lots of space to sit in the wood door. Make sure to have a vacuum close by to clean up all the wood chips. This is a messy step!

It’s fun to see how the door looks routed in!

Next, place the windows where they will go on the mailbox sides.. Two fit on each side. Each window fits nicely 3-1/2″ up from the bottom of the mailbox. Mark the center of the window. Put the window on the center mark and trace around the window.

Do this for all four windows.

For the windows, use a Rotary Tool to indent the wood just around the frame where the window will go. The window only needs a small spot for the window frame to sit in especially since they sit on top of the shutters.

step 4- finish work

And now, let’s prep the mailbox for painting! To begin, fill any screw holes with wood filler. I did this while my husband did the routing on the doors.

Once the wood filler is dry, sand it smooth.

To add color to the doors, windows, and trim I’m painting the Beloved Pink in an exterior paint. This will look like the outside of my house which I think will be so cute! Each piece needs two coats of paint.

The windows are very annoying to paint (each side of the window panes need to be painted). Plus, they all need three coats of the white stain.

Apply caulk into all of the seams of the mailbox. Do this before attaching the door to make reaching the seams a little bit easier.

staining

Finally, let’s start staining the mailbox body! I’m using an exterior stain for this project to give the DIY house shaped mailbox the longest chance of survival as possible! Paint the mailbox (inside and out) any color. I went with a solid White Stain.

I’ll be honest, part through staining this, I regretted this project. It takes 4 coats of stain for full coverage and it was tedious covering everything.

attach the door

Once the mailbox and door is painted, the door can be attached to the mailbox. To do that, use two Small Hinges to connect the door to the mailbox.

Next, add a Magnetic Catch to the mailbox and door. Screw it into place on the support beam. This will keep the door from flopping open in the wind.

Attach the second magnetic plate to. the door where the catch will magnetically hold the door in place when it is closed.

To open the door, we need a Cabinet Knob. Center the knob onto the front on the mailbox door. Predrill holes for the mounting screws. Install the pull.

I’m using a wood knob so I can stain it the same color as the mailbox body.

Next, I use construction adhesive to attach the doors.

roof

For the roof, I stained the whole surface. I’m making sure every surface is finished so that it will weather as well as possible outside.

To add shingles to the roof, I first take a ruler and mark the roof every 1″ starting at the bottom and working my way up.

Then, I apply construction adhesive in a thin bead right below the pencil line.

One by one, I put on the shingles making sure to line the top of each one with the pencil line.

dollhouse elements

For the window background, I painted them a soft blue to give then a little contrast.

Once the roof is fully shingled, stain the shingles to give extra protection from the elements.

I put stain in the routed areas for the windows, but that made it so the windows didn’t fit, so we routed out the paint. once that was cleaned out, I use construction adhesive to glue on the shutters.

Add construction adhesive for the windows too and push them onto the opening for the windows.

On the door, I used construction adhesive to glue on a little brass door knob. Doesn’t it look so cute?!

Then, use construction adhesive to attach the scallop trim to the top of the side and front pieces of the mailbox.

If the trim needs to be smaller, just cut it with an Exact-o knife or the rotary tool on a cutting mat.

Attach the mailbox flag to the side of the mailbox.

Caulk anywhere there are gaps around the windows and door. Then touch up the paint and cover the caulk once it’s dry.

step 6- mount the mailbox

Finally, take the (super adorable!) mailbox outside to install.

Remove the old mailbox.

And screw the new mailbox in its place.

after

Now introducing, the cutest mailbox I’ve ever seen!

I love how it looks just like my house and Free Little Library.

One of my favorite parts are the details- the texture on the shingles, the pink shutters with the blue behind the windows. The scale of the windows on the side 🤩!

price breakdown

Finally, let’s look at how much this project cost-

Items I had on hand-

Items I purchased-

I had most of the items on hand. Which, honestly felt very magical that I took scraps around my house and made it into a mailbox!

In total, I spent $42 on this project. Not too shabby!

In conclusion, I am thrilled with how the DIY house shaped mailbox turned out! I think its adorable and makes me smile when I see it. I think it looks like a mini dollhouse. My husband thinks it’ll make people more likely to vandalize it. I hope not! What do you think? I’d love to hear in the comments.