hang your hat

It's no secret that I love a deal. To be fair, I probably enjoy the hunt for the deal more than the deal itself, but there's no denying the sense of accomplishment in finding a great deal. After working in retail for years, I find it virtually impossible to pay retail for anything. Unless, of course, I come across an incredible knockoff that costs less than $10 (as illustrated in the story below).

It all started when I saw these coatrack dots in the Design Within Reach catalog:

I wanted something to spruce up the blank walls in our little entryway--and honestly, a place to hang my bag--but I was not thrilled with the $149 price tag for a set of five wooden dots. Then the next day (literally) the CB2 catalog arrived in the mail, and I saw these...

a set of three dot coat hooks for $9.95. I couldn't believe it. I ordered two sets. The dots were backordered for two months, and I was sort of convinced they would never get here, but Saturday when we got home from the soccer game this box was waiting on our front porch:

Catcher couldn't wait to rip open the package to see what was inside. It doesn't matter what's inside. It's always exciting. Of course, more exciting than the coat dots was the bubble wrap:

This is what happened when Scout woke up from her nap on Saturday and thought there was no more bubble wrap left to pop. She cheered up after I brought out a piece I had saved for her, but we had to wait for Alex to get home on Monday to bring out the power tools and finish the project:

After selecting the right size bit, he handed the drill over to Scout. Two year-olds and power tools are a great combination. (Don't freak: Scout didn't really drill anything. She just looked cute holding it.)

And here's the end result. I like the look--kind of sculptural/artsy. I told Alex that although we technically have a place to hang "stuff" now, we (and I mean he) can't go junking it up with ESPN hats and dirty gym bags.