I think I made a life hack. While cruising the internet many years ago I happened upon a wall-mounted acrylic fishbowl. If you asked me to retrace my digital steps to figure out how I landed on this particular item, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve never desired nor sought a fishbowl in my life. But I found the wall-mounted acrylic fishbowl and thought, “I want that real bad,” and then “For $12 I can afford that,” and two days later my wish was fulfilled. It is one of very few compulsively purchased items that I do not regret buying.
Now, I have no interest in pet fish. If I wanted an unresponsive organism in my house, I would buy a succulent. Instead, I envisioned my acrylic fishbowl as a decorative element/storage device for housing items that I used on a daily basis. I installed it near my desk with a single nail (total installation time: four seconds) and filled it with a mixture of frequently used and “Do Not Lose” items: key copies, eye drops, pens, my cat’s medication, etc.
Thanks to its combination of utility and weird visual appeal, the fishbowl has remained a constant through many household-redecorating sprees. Its transparency makes it an ideal storage unit. The shape makes it look cool. The portability means that I can easily relocate it when I move my furniture around. And for some reason I get a ton of compliments on it. Why? Who knows! People love a shiny, round, floating object filled with smaller objects, it turns out.
The potential uses are manifold. You can keep office supplies in it. You can install one near your front door and deposit your keys in it to ensure that you never lose them. You can put one in your bathroom for toiletries. You can put one in your closet for jewelry. You can put a rotating selection of candy in it for occasional nibbling. You can nail it next to your bed and keep a dream journal in it, or a book. And if you want to go really nuts, you could put a fish in it. This bowl is your oyster.
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