Chelsea Kaplan’s Musings About Life... After Birth

Here’s the most recent update in my adventures participating in the American Express Membership Rewards “Live On Points” challenge to revamp my bedroom using points only:

I might think I know most everything (at least my husband likely would say that I think so), but sometimes, you guys know the real deal. A reader recently left me a comment suggesting I could get more bang for my Pottery Barn/Crate & Barrel/Restoration Hardware buck if I check out these stores’ furniture outlets. I did a little research on Membership Rewards and realized that the PB, C&B and RH store gift cards you can purchase using points CAN be used at factory stores. Awesome! I did a quick search for outlets in my ‘hood, and all of the Big Three have outlet outposts at the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets in Leesburg, VA, which is only about 45 minutes from my house! Woo hoo! Guess where I’m heading this weekend?

Here’s the most recent update in my adventures participating in the American Express Membership Rewards “Live On Points” challenge to revamp my bedroom using points only:

This week, I’ve got 100,000 points to use, which is essentially the equivalent of $1000. A lot of money, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to purchase chat I really want to get, which is some dresser-like storage for our bedroom. My husband and I have an older house, so we have teeny, tiny closets. I don’t have enough space on this blog to reveal how bummer-fic this is for me, a real-life, Jewish Carrie Bradshaw - at least when it comes to clothing consumption. My shoes and clothes are all squeezed into the little space I have like commuters heading uptown on the 6 train at 6 p.m. It ain’t pretty.

Since we can’t make closet space, I’m going to look for a dresser of sorts, but a tall, multi-drawered one, because we have a big wall where we can fit a decent-sized piece of furniture. But it’s can’t be too big, or it would be pretty overwhelming for the room, which isn’t exactly huge. Ultimately, I’d like it to be something with lots of drawers like this Marston 8-drawer tall dresser from Restoration Hardware:

Unfortnately, the price ($2150) is outside of my alloted points range for this month, so I am going to visit some more furniture stores and hit the internet for the next couple of days to see if there’s a cheaper alternative. Got any suggestions? If so, let me know, y’all!