Lacquer Disaster

Well, maybe disaster is a little harsh, but it rhymed so I had to go with it.  Here's the story:  as part of our living room upgrades, I have been searching for a pretty box to store all of our remotes and other controllers.  Not only were they ugly, but we also would have a hard time finding them when necessary, so I figured a proper storage place would be the perfect solution (by the way, my lovely husband scoffs at this and thinks it is absolutely ridiculous that we should have to put away the remote that we use daily).  For months, I had my eye on this lovely from West Elm (the largest one):

 But the $49 price tag was a little too high for me to justify, so I searched for other options.  As I searched, I came across a lot of lacquer options, and was really attracted to their shiny, glossy look.  They were still fairly expensive, though, so the cheapskate DIYer in me decided I could make my own.  I bought a simple cardboard box and some white lacquer spray paint from AC Moore.  Here's what it looked like:

After a couple coats of white lacquer spray paint, it looked like this:

Wump-wump-wump, huh?  But have no fear, this story has a happy ending!  That Friday, I was patrolling West Elm's website.  Actually, every Friday while my lovely first graders watch their weekly movie (don't judge...it's only a half hour, totally educational (usually), and a much-needed break for us all), I peruse all of my favorite online sites: Crate and Barrel, West Elm, ZGallerie, etc.  I typically refuse to buy anything at full price from any of these stores, as things usually go on sale eventually.  My Friday stalking has paid off so many times in finding just-reduced items, and this Friday was no exception.  My beautiful bone box was not only marked down to 29.99 but it was also an additional 15% off for President's Day, making it more than half off the original price!!!!  Add to cart, purchase, thank you. 
And my white lacquer spray paint also got a little redemption.  I had purchased this mirror for Colton's room a couple weeks ago:

I loved its shape, but needed something a little whiter and brighter for baby boy's room.  Well, my lovely lacquer spray paint delivered this time (for a quick tutorial on painting mirrors, you can click here).  I'm going to leave you wondering for a little bit as his mirror is still not hung in its rightful place (Josh's responsbility, so we'll see how long we have to wait), but trust me, the lacquer paint delivered.

So, what about you all?  Do you stalk websites too looking for deals?  Or know of any other budget ideas?