Best of Driven by Decor 2021

Happy new year! I’m so excited for all that 2022 will bring but before looking ahead to all of the new projects & DIYs to come, I’m looking back on the year and sharing the posts that were reader faves! If you’re new to Driven by Decor, now’s the perfect time to get caught up on recent happenings on the blog and if you’re a long-time follower (thank you, I appreciate you so much!), you might just find a post or two that you missed along the way. Let’s get to it… (affiliate links included in post – full disclosure statement available {here})

Favorite Decorating Tips & Tricks

I love sharing decorating tips & tricks and they tend to be some of your favorite posts! For 2021 the most popular decorating tips post was {this post} on how to find the best fluffy duvet inserts. I took the mystery out of shopping for duvet inserts by sharing all of the features to look for so that you know exactly what you need to look for. Plus I share tips on caring for your duvet inserts and how to easily put your duvet insert back into the cover after washing it using my simple burrito method:

Two other popular decorating tips and tricks posts were {this post} with 15 home remodeling ideas to steal for your own and {this post} with 10 unique wallpaper ideas to inspire your next home project including my favorite of adding wallpaper to the back of your bookcases:

Bookcase Sources: Grasscloth wallpaper behind shelves (Charcoal) | Glass demijohn vase (similar) | White coral (similar) | Landscape art print | Crane art print

And if you’re in the market for a new cordless vacuum, be sure to check out {this post} comparing Dyson vs. Shark cordless vacuums that so many of you said was helpful to them!

Favorite Room Makeover

I usually do several big room makeovers each year but 2021 was a bit different because we listed our CT home for sale in early spring so I had to have all of my projects wrapped up in the first few months of the year. That means that picking a favorite room makeover was pretty simple since the only big one I did was the makeover of our entryway! It was a project that I had actually bought wallpaper for a few years back but it just kept getting pushed down on my to-do list time and time again. If only I had known what a difference it would make, I would have knocked it out long ago!

Our entryway went from this pretty blah looking state:

to this after I wallpapered the walls and added a new console, art, and accessories:

Sooo much better…

Luckily when I did my entryway makeover in CT, I knew we would soon be moving to NC so I chose pieces that would work just as well in our new house too:

Favorite DIY Project

The most popular 2021 DIY project on Driven by Decor was covering our laminate/wood edged desk countertop with marble contact paper! Our countertops started out looking like this:

and after being covered with the marble contact paper, this is their new look (I especially love how the countertop edge turned out!):

Sources: Floral art print | Hustle print – self made | Upholstered rolling armchair | Marble contact paper | Drawer knobs

You can find the step by step of covering our countertops with marble contact paper in {this post}. Before doing it on the rest of our kitchen, I stuck a test strip of the marble contact paper next to my kitchen sink to see how it would hold up over time and it has held up like a champ so I’m going to be knocking out the rest of my kitchen in January. We will eventually be doing a full kitchen remodel but until then, it’s a great budget-friendly way to dress it up.

A few of the other DIY projects I’ll be working on in early 2022 are finishing up our Elfa closet system (it’s looking soo good) and adding molding and wallpaper to our powder room – stay tuned!

Favorite Organizing Project

Your favorite organizing project of 2021 was the organization of our kitchen drawers that I shared {here}. It’s one of my favorite projects too because it made our kitchen so much more functional with everything being easier to store & find:

Sources: Bamboo drawer dividers | In-Drawer knife block | Drawer knob | Hedgehog measuring cups | Floral oven mitt

Sources: Wood spice drawer organizer | Spice bottles | Spice labels

I just started working on an organizing project in my girls’ bathroom which is going to give us a TON of new storage space – can’t wait to share it in 2022!

Favorite Paint Color Posts

Every year I write a few posts about favorite paint colors – in 2021, I shared the details on one of my favorite greige paint colors, Sherwin Williams Anew Gray, which is the color I painted the walls in our living room:

I share all the details on it and how Anew Gray compares to other similar griege paint colors in {this post}. And if you’re looking for a great white paint color, check out {this detailed post on Benjamin Moore Cloud White} which was the color of the walls in our kitchen and family room:

Sources: TV console (similar) | Chandelier (satin bronze) | Green & blue block print pillow cover | Faux fiddle leaf fig tree | Rug | Pair of floor poufs | Art prints (details in {this post} | Acrylic coffee table (similar) | Coffee table tray (28″ square) | Black and white striped box (on coffee table) | Brass cricket (on coffee table) | Basket planter | Rattan chair

Favorite Cleaning Tips Post

In 2021 I tried laundry stripping for the first time and was hooked! It was crazy how much crap it got out of my “clean” towels & linens:

It was so fun getting pictures from you guys of the grossness that you got out doing laundry stripping too! I share the laundry stripping formula plus the step by step of how to strip laundry in {this post}. Another favorite cleaning post was {this post} on the marble tile in our bathroom including info on how I kept it clean.

Personal Faves

My personal favorite post of the year was {this post on selling our CT home} where I shared the details on selling our house and all of the “before” pics of the house in NC we moved into:

We’ve already made big changes in some spaces while others are still looking pretty rough 🙈. There is definitely no lack of projects around here to knock out in 2022!

And being the gadget girl that I am, another favorite of mine is {this post} on my favorite Amazon gadgets including {this outlet nightlight} that’s the BEST for lighting your way to the bathroom at night:

Eleven of my other favorite gadgets are included in my post too!

Favorite 2021 Home Purchases

Let’s wrap things up by sharing my favorite home purchases from 2021 starting with…

1. Our New Living & Dining Room Rugs

After refinishing the hardwood floors in our living and dining rooms, we needed new rugs since none of the rugs from our previous house fit the spaces in our new one. I chose {this blue striped rug} for our living room in the 9 x 11 size:

and {this patterned rug} for our dining room in the 8 x 10 size:

I love both of them individually and also how well they coordinate without competing with each other in adjacent spaces.

2. Acrylic Ceiling Fan

Our house has a LOT of dated ceiling fans so I’m slowly updating them including adding {this stylish acrylic blade fan} to our guest room in 2021 – it’s so pretty and moves the air really well too:

I also replaced our two patio fans with {these white indoor/outdoor fans} and the fan in my girls’ room with {this globe light fan}:

If you want to see my other favorite ceiling fans, check out {this post}.

3. Serena & Lily Look-Alike Patio Furniture

We’ve had {this two-person seating set} on our back porch that worked really well for the two years we were using this house as a second home, but now that we’re in NC full-time and are having friends and family over, we needed more seating. I’d been eyeing {this Serena & Lily outdoor furniture} for months but the price tag kept me from pulling the trigger. Then I stumbled across {this super similar patio set from Walmart} that includes four pieces (a loveseat, two chairs, and an ottoman) for about half the price of a single Serena & Lily chair. We set it up this week and I’m super happy with it:

I know it’s not the typical time to be buying outdoor furniture but with the weather this past week being in the 70’s, I’m glad we ordered it when we did because it’s already getting a lot of use!

4. Long Drapery Rods

The sliding glass doors in our living room previously had a dated valance and vertical blinds that I wanted to replace with drapes but long drapery rods can be expensive! I bought {these very reasonably priced telescoping curtain rods} with {these curtain rings} and hoped for the best. They ended up working out beautifully:

so last week I hung the same rod in my dining room too. I used {these long-time favorite white drapes} in the 100″ W x 108″ L size with a cotton lining (they’re also made in a pinch pleated version {here}). I’m keeping my drapes as-is for now but might add decorative trim along the outside edges of them down the road.

5. Dyson Omni-Glide

My latest tool in my cleaning arsenal is the Dyson Omni-Glide which I bought a few months ago and LOVE! It’s made for cleaning hard surfaces (hardwoods, tile, etc.) and it works like a champ! It’s super lightweight and maneuverable, has double fluffy rollers so it’s gentle on floors, and works well on my low-pile carpet and rugs too. I keep it in our kitchen pantry and use it daily for quick cleans as well as more thorough vacuums:

I bought mine directly from Dyson {here} – it’s currently out of stock on their site but you can find it for the same price {here} and {here} with free shipping.

6. Deep Clean Brush Set

For a great cleaning buy on the cheap, I bought {this deep clean brush set} in 2021 and have used the brushes a ton! They’re awesome for scrubbing hard to reach places such as your washing machine seal (I shared the step by step of giving your washing machine a deep clean in {this post}),

window tracks, and more. And while I actually got it at the very end of 2020, I also love {this Shark WandVac} that is currently in stock in the hard to find white color along with standard black.

7. Fern Storage Cabinet

In our CT home we had a large baker’s rack by the door out to our back patio that was perfect for storage of our outdoor pillows & throws, dog jackets & leashes, grilling supplies, etc. It was too wide to work in our new NC home so we sold it before moving and then ordered {this Fern storage cabinet} that was a perfect fit for our new space! There are three color options – white, black, and slate blue. I chose the slate blue which I would describe as a dark gray with a touch of blue:

It’s such a gorgeous piece – I absolutely love the curved shape of it, the pretty legs, and the marble shelf inside. It looks kinda out of place in our space right now because the wall color is changing, the carpet is going to be replaced with hardwoods, and that ugly sconce above it will be gone but once this room is done it will really shine!

And with that, 2021 on Driven by Decor is a wrap! I appreciate you guys so much for stopping by the blog throughout the year and look forward to a busy year of projects, renovations, decorating & cleaning tips, and DIYs in 2022. If you’re looking for motivation to knock out some home projects in 2022, subscribe to get notified of new posts on Driven by Decor by email! It’s typically only 1-2 emails/week, you can unsubscribe at any time, and you’ll no longer miss posts or miss out on favorite new finds (I always feature several in each post). CLICK {HERE} TO SUBSCRIBE

Happy new year everyone!