Top 12 Home Purchases From 2021

Top 12 Home Purchases From 2021

Clever, useful products for the home is one of my very favorite categories to shop on Amazon. Whether it’s a super-simple-to-clean area rug that makes life with pets way easier, or the perfect palm-sized vacuum for kitchen crumbs, I get really giddy whenever I discover an item that ticks a box for us and our routines. I spent some time this week reminiscing about the 12 home buys from 2021 that really made a difference in our lives, and this is the full list I came up with.

Top 12 Home Purchases From 2021:

1. Room Darkening Curtain Panels: I finally settled on the perfect curtains for our main bedroom, and now I want them for every room! We hung ours using the back tab for a more polished look, but there is another option for hanging them.

2. Loloi II Wynter “Auburn/Multi” Area Rug: I have never, ever found a rug that I love more. The colors are my dream palette, and this flat printed design is super easy to keep clean. We have it in three rooms of our house—no joke.

3. LED Round Flat Panel Light: I adore the sleek silhouette of this light fixture. It’s practically flush with the ceiling, and lights up a room so nicely. We have it in both of our bathrooms. Bonus: You can customize the temperature of the light! In other words, you can make the light it puts off look warmer or cooler, depending on what you prefer.

4. 2’ Cedar Artificial Bush: I have officially given up on trying to keep live potted plants thriving outside our entry. I’ve purchased this artificial plant over and over, and couldn’t recommend it more. The zero maintenance thing is a true breeze.

5. Matte Black Indoor/Outdoor Wall Sconce: I added this sconce above our back deck last fall, and love it. It’s modern but also a touch traditional, and does a great job lighting up our outdoor living room.

6. Plastic Acrylic Bookends: I had been on the hunt for good bookends for our floating shelves in the living room (this set, and this one up high). I wanted something discreet that actually worked. These bookends fit the bill perfectly.

7. Wireless Door Bell: Last spring I started thinking about getting a Ring doorbell for our house, but I read lots of “meh” reviews, so I decided not to. Instead, I upgraded our ancient old doorbells to these wireless bells. So easy to install, and they work great.

8. Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner: I desperately wanted to find a way to deal with kitchen countertop crumbs. This little (tiny!) handheld vacuum works great.

9. Extra-Strong Magnetic Hooks: Another kitchen hack I came up with last year was to hang our everyday oven mits from these magnetic hooks. I stuck them to the side of our metal hood vent so they’re out of the way, but still easy to grab.

10. Modern Plug-in Wall Sconce: I really love the fact that more and more lighting brands are coming out with plug-in options for sconces. We added this mod light to the wall in our living room and didn’t have to hire an electrician to hard-wire it.

11. Trinsic Universal Trip Lever: Quite possibly the weirdest thing I bought last year was this toilet flush handle. It was outrageously expensive, but seriously worth every penny. It makes our bathroom look so much fancier.

12. Echo Dot Smart speaker: I bought one of these bluetooth speakers for my home office that I recently made over into an art studio so I could listen to classical music while I paint and draw. It also controls all the lights in our house by voice command.

Have you paused for a second to evaluate your purchases from last year (or even the one before that)? I’d love to know what you’re still using and loving. It’s kind of fun to look back at all of the little gadgets and décor pieces I bought that ended up changing our lifestyle and routines for the better. I think I’ll make this list an annual tradition! Let me know in the comments which items caught your eye above.

Top 12 Home Purchases From 2021

*I earn a small percentage from purchases made using the affiliate links above. Affiliate links are not sponsored. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.

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Tour Our Eclectic Mid-Century Bedroom

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

*Today’s post was made possible by Loloi, and features gifted product for the purposes of a candid review. All opinions are my own.

I know, I know…How many times can one girl redecorate her bedroom?! Well, first of all, you should know by now that I love change when it comes to home décor, so no room is ever safe from a redesign. Secondly, I’ve just generally struggled with the design of our main bedroom. This eclectic mid-century space really has taken years to perfect, but I’m genuinely over-the-moon with the current iteration. A new calming aqua wall color, fun patterned wallpaper, plenty of thrifted accents, and my dream bedroom furniture combine to make this room a true oasis. Keep scrolling for the full story, plus a list of all the product resources I could find links for.

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

RESOURCES: Bed frame, Nightstands, Brass dome lamp, Oatmeal bedding, Lumbar pillow cover, Curtain panels, Area rugWallpaper, Two floral framed prints: vintage by Bernard Cathelin

This updated design hinges on a number of factors: the wallpaper, a refreshing blue/green wall color, and a new rug from Loloi. I’ve tried making this room look more minimal, and I’ve also gone “colorful boho,” but neither one felt entirely right for us. The look I’m debuting today feels like the perfect middle ground between those aesthetics, plus it nicely incorporates our own natural instincts in design. There’s plenty of color and pattern to enjoy, but it feels less trend-specific and more sophisticated. At least to me!

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

RESOURCES: Mini wood table lamp, Tall dresser: handmade, Similar tall dresser, Similar black arch mirror, Paint color, DIY Wood Mobile, Laundry basket

Instead of letting Pinterest and the Internet influence me, I tried really hard to only bring what we love into the space. Some things feel very “in vogue” this season, like the sleek, symmetrical wood furniture and modern lighting, but the art is something that I chose purely for love rather than using the pieces to fit some kind of home décor trend.

While unintentional, there’s a bit of a Parisian theme with a lot of the art I decided to hang in the space, like the vintage city street print you see pictured below (in a frame that matches the wood tone of the furniture, you might have noticed!). The street scene framed and leaning on my tall dresser is an original painting my sister bought for me in France when she was there last December, and the two 1960s floral prints are by French artist, Bernard Cathelin. I chose those specifically because I love the way the orange/red tones complement the bluish green wall color. The piece above our bed also helps break up the somewhat wild pattern of our peel-and-stick wallpaper.

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Another piece I have to point out is our new area rug. It’s the Layla area rug in Olive / Charcoal from Loloi, and is definitely a new favorite in our collection. John, especially, really loves this piece. When we unrolled it, I was a little unsure about how the colors in the rug went with the paint color and wallpaper (this was before we had the art in place), but his excitement won me over. Once we had the art hung up, it all came together so perfectly, and I’m glad I decided to defer to his instinct.

It’s another one of Loloi’s flat printed designs, which means it’s made to look vintage but without the hassle. The flat texture is so easy to spot clean and vacuum (that’s essential for us as pet owners) and it’s super cushy under-foot, too. The colors in this rug really are kind of stunning. It has lots of charcoal, olive green, burnt orange, and navy in it, but you’ll also find shades of pale pink and aqua blue, which looks so nice beside our “Mist On The Moors” wall color.

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

RESOURCES: Low dresser, Figure painting print, Two Paris art pieces: vintage/original, Blue side chair: vintage from Galaxie Modern, Leather pouf, Ceramic dresser table lamp: thrifted, Mid-century floor planter, Faux plant

There’s obviously no guarantee that the room will look like this forever, but I’m feeling so much more settled with the design now. It makes me happy everyday to wake up in this space. There’s so much to look at when I’m laying in bed, and most of it brings up fond memories and makes me think of special people and places I love. Yes, everything was chosen strategically to fit our home’s color palette, but the pieces were also picked because they feel most like “us.” I think this room makeover proves that balancing décor choices from both camps (function and sentiment) is essential for a happy final result.

Let me know about your favorite part of the room in the comments, and shout if you have any questions about something we added to the space (or maybe something we left out?). I’m always open to continuing the conversation in the comments section, so speak up! I also put together a new YouTube video tour of this room, which you can watch in this post by scrolling back up a little bit, or hopping over to YouTube here. I’m trying to be more active on my channel this year, so your likes/comments/subscriptions will show me that you’d like to see more. Thanks, as always, for following along!

Reviewing The Layla Rug From Loloi

*I earn a small percentage from purchases made using the affiliate links above. Affiliate links are not sponsored. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.

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