5 domestic things I'm glad I splurged on

My husband bought a new color printer/scanner/faxer/god-knows-what-elser yesterday, and as usual I had to be Talked Into It. It got me thinking about the things around our house that I'm glad I splurged on. Didn't NEED any of them. But I love them. Here are five of them:

1. My french rolling pin. I had a marble rolling pin but it seemed like I was always having to clomp it around the countertop and dough got ridges from the edge of it. This baby is lighter, longer and it's so prettttty. And it's held up well. I circled this in the shop for about a half hour before I bought it (sure it was all of $18 but did I NEED it?). If you like to bake and you don't have one of these, go for it!

2. While we're hanging out in the kitchen, the little strip of tile backsplash on our kitchen bar. It was ridiculously narrow and I think the tile dude wanted to kill me. But I pet it and call it pretty almost every day. And the tile dude finished work on it about 3 years ago!

3. This console in our bedroom is the splurgiest-splurge in the list. And I was the one talking my husband into spending money, for once! I just knew I wanted a long, low table for the TV and my To-Be-Read pile (yes, that big row of books below the TV). And it wasn't TOO expensive, since we ordered it from Home Decorators and assembled it ourselves. A major upgrade over the unfinished pine TV stand we were still dragging around from college. Although I thought that thing was pretty awesome when I bought it for $49 in Allston-Brighton and dragged it home on the trolley.

4. Back to the kitchen for my ridiculously small mug. This was made by a student at Logan Wannamaker Studio in Taos, New Mexico. It was the first thing I bought in Taos, the first year I went there for Kindling Words West. As you can see, it's only three jumbo marshmallows high and it holds probably a half cup of tea. Who cares? Sometimes beauty really does overpower all other needs.

5. The cheapest "splurge" of the list, a $3 IKEA hook. I count this as a splurge because I decided to screw anybody's opinion and happily installed a hook in the shape of a dog's butt, right in my living room wall. Little Dude's backpack hangs on it  and it makes all of us smile. Which is what you need when you're running for the bus YET AGAIN and can't find your kid's gloves YET AGAIN and he's arguing that there's no need for a coat when it's 34 out. Yes. YET AGAIN! I know I know I know it was likely made for dog leashes. Again... who cares?