After nearly three years of development, we’re excited to finally share our biggest side project to date: a collection of wall storage and hooks designed by us and available exclusively at Target. Many pieces are already listed on Target.com, and the assortment will appear on endcaps in most U.S. stores beginning March 31st.
We explored dozens of designs during development and narrowed the collection to a curated mix of functional and decorative hooks and wall organizers. The pieces—priced at $14.99 or less—bring together motifs we love, from bees and antique-style skeleton keys to a little chihuahua-inspired charm. The collection will be merchandised in Target’s Home Improvement section for a 14-week run.
We intentionally included options that invite a bit of DIY personalization. Two raw wood hook rails—one with a picture ledge and one without—are designed to be finished with paint, stain, wallpaper or decoupage. Each rail has predrilled holes to accept any of four hardware styles, available in oil-rubbed bronze or white, so you can mix and match finishes and styles to suit your home.
The collaboration began in July 2011 when Liberty Hardware, then a blog sponsor, invited us to participate in research about the DIY trend. That initial conversation blossomed into a design partnership. Over the next two years we guided the creative direction—providing sketches, color and finish input, and iterative feedback—while Liberty handled manufacturing feasibility, prototyping and sales analysis.
The development process was fascinating: our sketches and reference images were turned into illustrated options, then into computer and hand-sculpted models. Many designs were 3D-printed to create production prototypes, followed by further refinement. We revisited scale, symmetry, functionality and finish repeatedly—sometimes returning to the drawing board—and even participated in a focus group. In total, we designed roughly forty to fifty pieces before the final assortment was selected.
Though much of the work happened virtually through email and calls, we met frequently in person. Liberty’s team, based a few hours away in Winston‑Salem, NC, visited Richmond multiple times. We also traveled to North Carolina, met with Liberty’s designers in Chicago, and flew to Target’s Minneapolis headquarters during the development phase. Those trips helped solidify design details and align the collection for production and retail presentation.
Product photography was shot in our home last November and used for packaging and promotional imagery. Our brother‑in‑law, Todd, handled the photography. To create varied backdrops in a house with few painted walls, we improvised—using a remnant of grasscloth wallpaper behind the Burger hook, and hiding painter’s tape and trim just out of frame during the shoot.
Seeing the finished products in the world feels surreal after so many months of meetings, prototypes and packaging work. We’re already pitching additional ideas that expand beyond hooks and wall storage; Target prefers tightly themed collections, so we’re developing home and DIY sets that could rotate seasonally.
We’re grateful to everyone who contributed to this project—Liberty’s design and production teams, the Target staff who helped bring the collection to retail, and all the family and friends who assisted during photography and testing. And of course we owe sincere thanks to our readers for following the journey (and for putting up with our long secret).
Everything in the collection is available now on Target.com and will appear in most stores beginning March 31st. We hope you enjoy the mix of practical storage and playful design—and we can’t wait to share what’s next.
Update – We often get questions about blogging—how we built our site, grew an audience, and turned it into a full‑time endeavor—so we’ve shared details about how we started the blog, increased traffic, and made it a career.