- new
- wall art
- garden art & decor
- house numbers & signs
- custom work
- wall hooks
- NZ-made gifts
- last ones
House numbers and address signs are the smallest design decision you'll make for your home - and one of the most overlooked. Yet they're the first thing visitors see, the detail emergency services rely on, and a permanent part of your home's exterior.
This guide brings together everything I've learned designing custom NZ house numbers and address signs since 2007 - more than 50,000 signs delivered to homes across the country. Whether you're building new, renovating, or just upgrading a tired set of numbers, you'll find a definitive answer to the most common questions here.
I started LisaSarah because I couldn't find anything stylish for my own home.
There are four reasons clear, well-designed house numbers genuinely matter:
Before you think about size, font or material, look at the style of your home.
Modern homes - plaster, dark timber, board-and-batten, minimalist forms - tend to suit clean sans-serif fonts, generous spacing, and crisp matte finishes. Less is more. A single set of large numbers, well-placed, looks more considered than a busy address panel.
Traditional homes - villas, bungalows, character cottages - can carry more presence in the signage. Slightly thicker letter forms, considered serifs, or a small address panel can feel appropriate as long as it respects the scale of the façade.
Heritage homes deserve restraint. A simple set of numbers in a finish that complements the period (often matt black, dark bronze, or aged corten) usually beats anything that tries too hard.
The most common mistake I see is people choosing signage that doesn't match the home - modern numbers on a heritage villa, or ornate script on a minimalist new build. Match the style of the house, not the trend of the moment.
The single most common reason people replace their house numbers is that they ordered numbers that were too small.
Here's a practical sizing guide based on how far your home sits from the road:
When in doubt, go bigger. Numbers can be 10-20% larger than feels right at arm's length and still look balanced from the street.
Simple house numbers (just the digits) work for most urban homes within clear view of the road.
A full address sign (number + street name) is the better choice when:
Address signs also work beautifully on freestanding entrance walls or pillars, where they become a small architectural statement in their own right.
NZ weather is brutal on cheap signage. Strong UV, salt air, driving rain, and wide temperature swings will destroy lightweight materials within a few years. Here's what to choose:
The most popular option for good reason. Powder coating creates a durable, UV-stable finish that holds colour for 10+ years in normal NZ conditions. Available in matt black, white, sage, gold, and a range of designer colours. Choose this for most homes.
Corten develops a warm rust patina that becomes self-protecting over 6-18 months. Beautiful architectural choice for modern homes, dark fences, and timber cladding. One caveat: during the patina-forming phase it can stream rust onto unsealed concrete or light plaster (more on this in the FAQ below).
If you're within 1km of the coast - and especially if you face the prevailing salt wind - pay the premium for 316 marine grade. The molybdenum content resists salt corrosion much better than standard 304 stainless. Worth it for coastal areas, exposed south coasts, Tasman, Coromandel, and similar.
Five style approaches that consistently work for NZ homes:
Trendy fonts and ornate scripts age badly. If you're unsure, go simpler.
The right placement depends on your home's layout, but these are the most common options:
Avoid placing numbers where they're obscured by plants, hidden in shadow under deep eaves, or competing with other signage.
Off-the-shelf numbers work for most homes. But a custom sign is worth the small additional cost when:
Most steel house numbers can be installed by a confident DIYer in under an hour. Here's the basic approach.
Always use stand-off mounts where possible. They create depth and shadow, and they prevent water from sitting between the sign and the wall (which is what causes streaking and discolouration over time).
If you're nervous about drilling into a brand-new exterior, any handyman or builder can install in 15-20 minutes for about $80-120. Worth it for the peace of mind.
Steel signage shipped from overseas often sits in a warehouse for weeks, arrives in damaged packaging, and uses materials and coatings that aren't specified for NZ UV and salt conditions.
Choosing NZ-made gets you:
Every LisaSarah piece is designed and made here. We use NZ steel and NZ powder coaters. After 19 years, we've worked out what holds up and what doesn't.
These are the questions we get most often.
For most NZ homes, 30cm tall house numbers work well when mounted near the front door or on a fence within 10-15 metres of the road. For homes set further back (15m+), 50cm numbers are clearer. Numbers smaller than 20cm are often hard to read from a moving vehicle.
Powder-coated aluminium or steel is the most popular and durable choice. Corten steel is excellent if you want the warm rusted patina. For coastal homes within 1km of the sea, 316 marine grade stainless steel resists salt corrosion better than 304.
Local councils across NZ require properties to display their street number, and many also require visibility for emergency services. While exact bylaws vary by council, the practical standard is that the number must be readable from the street in daylight.
Clean sans-serif fonts are the most readable and work with the widest range of architectural styles. Avoid script or decorative fonts for primary visibility - they look beautiful close up but are hard to read from the street.
Drill pilot holes through the weatherboard and into the framing behind, using stainless steel screws to prevent rust streaks. For a more architectural look, use stand-off mounts which hold the numbers 15-25mm off the surface.
During the first 6-12 months as corten develops its protective patina, it can stream rust-coloured water down porous surfaces. To prevent staining, either mount corten numbers on surfaces that won't be damaged (timber, dark plaster, fencing), use stand-off mounts to create an air gap, or seal the wall surface beneath.
If you're ready to choose:
Or get in touch directly if you'd like advice for your specific home. I read every enquiry personally and usually reply within 48 hours.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Choosing wall art is one of those decisions that seems small until you're standing in front of an empty wall with no idea what fits. After 19 years designing steel wall art for NZ homes, here's the guide I'd hand someone asking "how do I pick the right piece?" Covers size, height, material, style, indoor vs outdoor, and the mistakes to avoid.
Corten steel garden art adds warmth, texture and structure to modern outdoor spaces. Discover ideas for NZ gardens, fences and landscaped areas.
Outdoor wall art can completely transform a fence, pool area or garden wall. Discover practical ideas for modern NZ homes and outdoor spaces.
