5 Decorating Project Ideas for 2021 & The Sales to Snag NOW So You’re Ready to Knock Them Out!

1. Banish the Boob Lights

Every house we’ve moved to has had several builder’s basic “boob lights” – you know what I’m talking about right? They all look something like this one that was in our old master bathroom: 

The only thing that these lights have going for them is that they’re dirt cheap. You might be surprised at what a difference replacing them with a more stylish fixture can make! The price point for flush mount lights is all over the place but if you’re on a limited budget, my favorite pick is {this simple bowl flush mount light} that’s on Cyber Monday sale for the lowest price I’ve seen it in quite a while. It’s a very simple, classic design that works with just about any design style. I have it in the warm brass in our guest bathroom:

and our laundry room too:

It also comes in Bronze, Polished Nickel, and Satin Nickel. I’ve gathered together some of my other favorite boob light replacements too including the scalloped fabric flush mount in our bedroom (light #2), the brass drum semi-flush mount in our home office (light #3), the glass star flush mount in our laundry room in NC (light #8), and a few others:

Links to lights: 1. Simple bowl flush mount  |  2. Scalloped white fabric fixture with black trim  |  3. Drum semi-flush mount  |  4. Low profile star flush mount  |  5. Quatrefoil fabric + metal shade  |  6. Clover shape semi-flush mount  |  7. Metal + glass bowl shade  |  8. Star flush mount

2. Tame the Clutter with a Tray

If I made a list of must-have home accessories, trays would be at the very top of it. If there’s a spot in your home that seems cluttered and you want to do something about it in 2021, there’s a good chance that taming it with a tray (after you purge what you can!) is the answer. I have {this round beaded wood tray} that works beautifully for corralling a few bedside essentials on the nightstand in our guest room:

and I’ve used it next to the range in our kitchen too:

FYI, while my beaded tray definitely has a white washed look the more recent versions (I bought mine years ago) look to be a bit darker.

I also have {this cute seagrass tray} corralling a few things on our master bathroom vanity counter – it’s the perfect size for fitting between our two sinks. I usually have more practical things inside of it but swapped some of them out this week for a few ornaments to pretty it up for the holidays:

I also have a large square wood tray corralling clutter on our family room coffee table and a woven rectangular tray similar to {this one} on our large living room leather ottoman. These are a few other favorites, most of which are on Cyber Monday sale:

Links to trays: 1. Small round seagrass tray  |  2. Square cut-out wood trays  |  3. Round whitewash rattan tray  |  4. Rattan raised handle round tray  |  5. Navy hexagon tray  |  6. Round beaded tray  |  7. Rectangular rattan tray

3. Say Goodbye to Skirts

While I’m definitely not saying that you need to kick all of your bed skirts to the curb, if you have a bedroom that you’d like to update, investing in a complete bed with side and footboards is definitely worth thinking about. I did exactly that in our guest room a few years back, swapping out my standard headboard + bed frame for {this upholstered bed} and it was EXACTLY what this room needed, giving me the more clean-lined look that I love:

mirror above bed is a Wayfair find {here}

I actually love this bed so much that I bought the same exact one for our master bedroom in NC (both are in the Zuma White fabric). If you’re on a tighter budget, two other upholstered beds that look promising and have great reviews are {this tufted upholstered bed} and {this scalloped edge upholstered platform bed}. As a tip when shopping for upholstered beds, note that some require a box spring while others don’t in case that changes your preference (my bed and the tufted upholstered bed require a box spring but the scalloped edge bed does not). 

4. Layer In the Light

Adding multiple sources of light in a room (instead of relying on recessed lighting alone) not only gives you more lighting options that increase the functionality of your space but it also adds instant style and ambience! It can include a combination of recessed lighting, pendants and/or chandeliers, table lamps, floor lamps, and/or sconces. As an example, in our master bathroom we have recessed lighting but we also have {this rattan pendant} over the bathtub (dressed up with some ribbon for the holidays 😊) and {these vanity lights} over our double vanity:

So whether I just want good overall lighting, want more focused lighting for putting on makeup, or want to create a soothing ambience when I take a bath at night I’ve got it covered:

And during the day when I might not even need lighting, the look of my lights adds a nice dose of style too! Our vanity lights are on big sale for Cyber Monday and come in the aged brass finish that I chose:

and also a polished nickel. The same light fixture is also available in a 3-light version {here}. Several other things I bought for our master bathroom are part of Wayfair’s Cyber Monday sale too including {these mirrors over our vanity} (they come in black, gold, & silver), {our freestanding soaking tub}, and {these knobs on our bathroom vanity}:

Every room is going to have it’s own lighting needs and even if you don’t have the option for overhead light fixtures without running new wiring, simply adding in floor lamps and table lamps can do the trick in most spaces. These are a few of my current favorite light fixtures that are perfect for helping you add those layers of light: 

Links to lights: 1. Pair of 2 column table lamps  |  2. Classic lantern pendant  |  3. Blue & white table lamp  |  4. Two-tiered chandelier  |  5. Round rattan lamp  |  6. Geometric concrete table lamp  |  7. Tripod wood floor lamp  |  8. Chinoiserie-inspired table lamps (pair of 2)  |  9. Metal base table lamp  |  10. Silver & white trellis design table lamp  |  11. Open circle design floor lamp

5. Fill Your Bare Floors

Another simple way to add both style and warmth to one of your rooms in 2021 is by adding a rug! I love hardwoods and we have them in over half of our home but I don’t think there’s a single room in our house that doesn’t look better with an area rug layered on top. This is especially true if you have wood furniture – rugs are a nice way to break up the “wood on wood” of furniture on hardwoods.

When I pulled out the old rug in our home office to add {this new black & cream tassel rug} a few months back (this rug is on big sale this weekend by the way!) the room actually looked pretty horrible rugless! Having a rug softens up the space and pulls it all together so well: 

You can layer rugs over low pile carpet too – I actually love that look! In did it in our guest room with {this pretty rug} that’s also on sale right now in multiple sizes:

The same is true for outdoor spaces – our porch area looks SO much better with {this indoor/outdoor rug} defining the space than it did rugless:

While you’re probably not thinking about an outdoor rug right now with winter coming, this is when you can both get the best selection and snag them at the best price!

There are hundreds of rugs on Cyber Monday sale on Wayfair’s site and I waded through all of them to narrow it down to these favorites that look like beautiful options:

Links to area rugs: 1. Geometric gray & white rug  |  2. Geometric gray wool rug  |  3. Oriental navy blue rug  |  4. Black plaid area rug  |  5. Blue denim indoor/outdoor rug  | 6. Beige traditional design tufted wool rug  |  7. Geometric beige & blue rug  |  8. Geometric flatweave patterned rug  |  9. Chevron indoor/outdoor rug