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Updated: Jan 11, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

5 Decorating Project Ideas for 2022 & The Sales to Snag NOW So You’re Ready to Knock Them Out!

After all of the holiday decorations get packed away in January and you start planning out your decorating projects, there’s a good chance you’re going to think, “I wish I had bought that furniture/decor piece when it was on sale for Cyber Monday”. It happens to me EVERY year! So this year I’m taking the time to plan out my decorating projects and snag a few key pieces now so I can get a great price and be ready to jump right into my projects in the new year.
To help you do the same, I’m sharing five decorating projects to knock out in 2022 and the home accessory & furniture deals to snag NOW to get the job done right. Let’s jump on in… (post includes affiliate links; full disclosure statement available {here})

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:

These ugly boob lights have got to go! I'll share some great flush mount options to take their place!

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:

Love this simple and inexpensive brass flush mount lighting fixture linked in this post! The perfect ceiling light!

and our laundry room too:

Love this simple but stylish flush mount light fixture

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:

It's time to ditch your builder's grade lights for one of these stylish flush mounts!

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:

This round wood beaded tray is perfect for corralling bedside clutter!

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

My favorite round wood beaded tray is back in stock!! Linked in post!

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:

Love this seagrass basket in her bathroom - perfect for between the sinks!

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:

Love these decorative trays - perfect for corralling the clutter!

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:

Love this upholstered bed and it's a great price too!

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:

The lighting in our master bathroom - recessed lighting, a rattan pendant, and a pair of vanity lights.

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:

Our rattan pendant has the most beautiful glow and shadowing at night!

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:

Love the globe lights on this gorgeous brass 2-light vanity light!

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 on 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}:

Love these knobs for a bathroom vanity or cabinets!

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:

Gorgeous lamps, pendants, and chandeliers for adding layered lighting to a space!

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:

This rug is perfect for a home office - a flatweave rug that's easy to move your chair back and forth on!

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:

LOVE this neutral cream diamond area rug - so much great texture!

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:

Love this outdoor seating set on her back porch!

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 and I waded through all of them to narrow it down to these favorites that look like beautiful options:

Stylish area rugs for living rooms or any other room in your home!

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

I hope you found an idea or two that got your wheels turning on decorating projects to jump into in the new year! In addition to checking out the picks I featured, I’d also recommend clicking through the Flash Deals on Wayfair’s site today and tomorrow – there are thousands of great one day buys! One of my favorites today (Sunday) is the deal on {this mirror} we have over our fireplace in NC:
Gorgeous round rattan mirror!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend – it sure went by quickly didn’t it?! I’ll see you back on the blog later in the week!
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Comments

  1. elizabeth cicchino says

    November 29, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    Great blog article! Very helpful!

    Reply
  2. Lyn says

    November 29, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    I am sitting here smiling — I actually did all of these suggestions last year – another item to add to the idea list is repainting. We had our entire interior painted last fall and we made a lot of updates like all new lighting, mirrors, reframing prints, trays, etc. What a huge difference all of these changes made, and they gave the house and us a real lift at the same time. I keep a notebook that I use as a home management tool. It includes projects and decorating ideas broken down by seasons, and then by month. In fact just sitting here watching a football game on TV, I started on my 2021 lists. You can plan for the changes and curate your purchases over time. I also use the notebook to manage other home management tasks such as menu planning, pantry stocking, health & wellness, etc. I’ve used this system for close to 50 years now. It’s fun to check items off the list.

    Reply
  3. Karen B. says

    November 29, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    Great sales and some pretty selections. Thanks for always keeping me in the know.
    xo,
    Karen

    Reply
  4. Tami says

    December 03, 2020 at 4:13 pm

    Thank you so much for your recommendations! I recently redid my master bath and used yours as inspiration. I went with your vanity lights, knobs, shower tiles, and whatever else I could find :-). Love your style and home.

    Reply
  5. Mary Coakley says

    December 10, 2020 at 6:15 am

    Love your choice.of.lights.et seq I favour neutrals for my home Your bathroom ceiling is a work of art

    Reply

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