WHAT I’VE GOT – IKEA Bjärnum Folding Hooks

I think this set of 3 folding hooks might have been my very first purchase from IKEA. Simply put, they’re kind of amazing. They’re the dumbest possible design: two mated pieces of nickel-plated aluminum, with two generously sized holes for countersunk screws. I think they actually come with fasteners, but I’ve certainly lost them; the screw holes have a tolerance so generous I can drive basically anything to fix them to the wall.

But I’ve got them because they provide perfect storage (mostly coats and bags) wherever I want. And when I don’t want them, they fold up neatly and because little minimalist blocks of metal on my wall. They’re the platonic ideal of valet hooks, only way cheaper and almost always more elegant. Fun story: while working, I once spent two weeks designing custom valet hooks for a client that would’ve cost 100 times as much and looks worse.

They cost $9.99 for three, which makes each about the cost of your moderate-to-fancy coffee of choice. At the prices, I’m seriously contemplating buying them in the dozens! Which does beg the question — at what point is a wall more hook than wall?