giveaway: Mio Culture Grid Wall Pocket

Have you heard about how a lot of bloggers get offered free merch in return for writing positive product reviews? This seems pretty sketchy to me unless the blogger is completely transparent about the whole process to their readers. Many big name bloggers like Grace from Design*Sponge are against the whole thing and refuse to accept any free products or be influenced by their sponsors. I respect that.

This week I had my first encounter with the allure of freebies. I got an email from someone at CSN Stores (which I had ever heard of) offering me a free product of my choice (worth up to $100). They said I could either keep it for myself in return for writing a product review, or that I could use it in a giveaway on my blog. My initial thought was that I couldn't accept anything for myself, but if I found something I genuinely liked on their site, I could offer it in a giveaway to my readers. So I took a look. And I saw several things that I really liked. Like this, this, and this.

But when I saw the felt wall pocket that I had been coveting ever since spotting it in a magazine a couple of years ago, my resolve began to weaken. I mean, this organizer would be the perfect thing to help with my New Year's goal of tidying up my workspace! And it would look so nice doing it.


In the end, though, I decided that I had to stick with my initial decision. Plus, I was pretty excited to do a giveaway on my blog that, for once, wasn't a Sycamore Street Press item.

So, please comment away. And thanks to living room furniture and www.allmodern.com for sponsoring the giveaway. I'll chose a winner at random next Monday, January 4th. The lucky one will be able to choose a color (red, blue, or orange), and then the sponsor will ship directly to them.

p.s. If I ever get any more offers for blog freebies like this, I promise to stick to my blogging policy of full and complete disclosure. I'm not saying that I'll never keep something for myself...but I'll let you all know if I do!