Doorbells, Numbers, Mailboxes, and Carpets

September 28th, 2010

As I get ready to post the final costs for the project, I have two entries to sneak in first: this one covering several items and another one covering decorative lighting.

The doorbell

For the incredibly affordable sum of $50, we got ourselves a sexy Spore True doorbell, and I have to say, it is money. Not only does it look great but people actually love pressing it. One pizza guy even said he’s never had the urge to press a doorbell a second time until he pressed this one. Not that you should be worried about what pizza delivery people think about your doorbell, but I’m just sayin’…

House numbers

Seeing as Build designed the house to evoke a midcentury esthetic, we figured we should get house numbers set in a typeface that was inspired by that era. Neutraface was the obvious choice, and conveniently, Design Within Reach sells house numbers set in this face.

The mailbox

Although brands like Blomus make great, modern mailboxes, $320 is just a ridiculous sum to pay for a container that I wish I never had to use. Happily, I found this little jobbie at Chiasso for $78 instead. It does the job just fine, but I still look forward to the day when I can turn off my mail service entirely.

Carpeting

Carpeting just isn’t a sexy subject these days, but almost every house has at least a little of it, and ours is no exception. We chose high quality berber carpeting for the upstairs bedrooms and cheaper berber for the basement. We got our carpeting from Decor Carpet One of Bellevue and it turned out great.

Costs accrued during this stage:

Berber carpeting (Decor One)$11,235.00
Mailbox (Chiasso.com)$78.00
House numbers (Design Within Reach)$193.00
Spore Doorbell (Lumen.com)$50.00

7 Responses to “Doorbells, Numbers, Mailboxes, and Carpets”

  1. Chris Says:

    The door numbers work well. Nothing worse than driving round trying to find a house but you can’t see the house numbers, especially at night.

    Have enjoyed watching your home being built. Enjoy!!

    #1 - September 29th, 2010 at 2:22 am
  2. Cameron Maltby Says:

    Do you have your mailbox in an exposed location? I’m curious how waterproof it is.

    Cheers!

    #2 - September 30th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
  3. Mike D. Says:

    Cameron: Nope, it’s under a garage eave. Not sure how it would do fully exposed to the elements… probably decently.

    #3 - September 30th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
  4. Cameron Maltby Says:

    Thanks Mike. Perhaps I’ll buy one and conduct a water test. That is, hang it on the fence and see how my mail fares during a Vancouver winter.

    #4 - September 30th, 2010 at 7:26 pm
  5. David G. Says:

    Thank you so much for putting all your trials/tribulations and cost calculations in the public domain. I am looking to build modern in Oregon and I feel like 80% of my work is completed based on your extensive recommendations and research. Thanks again.

    #5 - February 27th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
  6. Juliana Says:

    Mike,

    I have purchased the same doorbell as you did, LOVE IT! I am wondering though, where did you get your door chime?

    Thank you,

    Juli

    #6 - October 18th, 2012 at 11:05 pm
  7. Mike D. Says:

    Juli: Not sure. I didn’t actually choose the chime… the architects just put it in.

    #7 - October 19th, 2012 at 9:35 am