Shit I Bought and Liked No. 79: Easy Home Upgrades
Shitters!!!
I hope this finds all you in the middle of your 985th listen of Midnights (the 3am edition, obviously). It’s been a big week for Taylor and my Sonos over here!!!
Speaking of the Sonos—it’s been one of my favorite home additions by far (s/o to my boyfriend for such a good gift!), and now that we’re heading towards colder/shorter days with more time spent bundled at home, it feels like a great time to talk through some more home things I love.
Longtime Shitters know how I feel about the Barefoot Dreams blanket, but there have been a few more key additions over the past few months that have made my apartment feel cozy and comfortable but still elevated and beautiful and a place I want to spend all my time (which is a good thing because I pretty much exclusively work from home!). I thought that this week I’d round some of them up for you. The Sonos is the priciest on the list, but most of these are under $100 and make a big impact!
Sonos Speaker: This lives in my kitchen, but I love that it’s portable and that it recalibrates based on wherever you position it. Obviously it’s been all Midnights for the past week, but I like putting on podcasts while I’m cooking at night or eating breakfast in the morning, so the kitchen has been the perfect home base. It’s super powerful and like I said, makes a really great gift. Bonus points if you make a cute playlist for your recipient to enjoy with it!
Chic Glassware: These glasses are sleek and beautiful and a relatively inexpensive kitchen upgrade, but one that you will notice every single day because presumably you’re staying hydrated! They’re super lightweight, surprisingly durable, and I love the way they look. I started with this set, but quickly added the larger tumblers and the tiny tasting glasses (practical? Not exactly, but they are the cutest and so good for splitting canned drinks or anything without ice).
Bolster Pillow: If you came here via Morning Person, you know about this already, but it’s time to fill everyone else in too! There’s nothing I love more than a bed covered in white linen sheets (linking here to the ones I’ve had and loved for years). To me, it’s like sleeping in a cloud. But over the past few months, I started to want a litttttle more styling on my bed. Now, I didn’t want to go overboard here, because a million throw pillows means a much longer bed-making process (and usually they end up on the floor anyways), but I did want an accent or two. A little Etsy deep dive led me to Studio Pillows—they have tons of fabrics and they’re super high quality. I decided to grab this green velvet bolster pillow to add a little color into my mostly neutral bedroom, and it pairs really nicely with the little tree I have in the corner. I got the 14x36 and it looks right at home on my full bed (eek!), but I definitely could’ve gone up a little in size. I also have my eye on this little coverlet from Parachute as a final finishing touch.
Rug Grippers: These are basically invisible day-to-day, but they’re INCREDIBLY helpful. I have a vintage Turkish rug in front of the sink in my kitchen, and these help keep it in place, especially when I’m running around in a hurry. You can use these on rugs big and small, especially ones in high traffic areas that tend to move (think runners, bath mats, etc). They keep your place looking neat and you feeling like you have (at least a little bit of) your shit together.
Kitchen Lamp: I LOVE a kitchen lamp. I never would have thought to do this on my own, but after seeing them in some of my favorite interiors (s/o Leslie Stephens, Jessica Kane and The Grand Apartment!), I was sold. I love turning this on in the evening instead of overhead lighting—it gives my kitchen a cozy glow and signals that it’s time to wind down. I’ll also leave it on instead of a night light when my boyfriend’s in town and needs to wake up for his East Coast work hours three hours earlier than usual. This one is relatively inexpensive, and I love the glass base. Of course, if you’re short on counter space, this is tough to do, but it also looks great on a side table or a desk.
Aura Frame: This is another great gift idea! It’s a digital picture frame that connects to your phone through an easy little app. You can load it up with pictures straight from your phone (or a shared album from multiple phones) and change up the photos, the speed they shuffle at, even the order. Obviously regular photos and frames are great too, this is just a fun way to switch them up if you don’t have the space for a bunch of different frames. I feel like this would be an especially good gift for any newlyweds in your life who are bombarding Instagram with 45,000 wedding pics!!!
Match Cloche: You know I’m a candle girl (this has been my favorite of the season), so naturally I love a good candle ~accessory~. This cloche is a beautiful and functional way to store your matches, and so much nicer looking than a lighter. I pair it with the candle du jour and my wick trimmer/douter set on my bookshelf, and love the way they look together. It’s on sale here for nearly $10 off the typical purchase price—highly recommend grabbing a couple because they make a great gift, especially for those hard-to-shop-for people.
The last rec is the one that I have the hardest time with—art. To me, art in your home should be more than just things you saw at whatever moderately priced furniture store you picked that day—it should be meaningful, special, and pieces that you really love—not just stuff you needed to fill the walls. This obviously takes a lot of time, especially if you’re starting mostly from scratch, but being really intentional with what you pick (and I’m not just talking about super expensive pieces here—whether it’s vintage, prints, or originals) means that the pieces have a much better shot at suiting you and wherever you end up living for years to come.
My favorite piece is the first one I ever bought. It’s by Elissa Barber, and if I didn’t already have one of her pieces, I would snap up this print of hers in a second. I’ve also started to keep more of an eye out for art while I’m traveling—my newest addition is a tiny photo I picked up in San Gimignano, Italy this summer, and I love that it has a story!
I’m definitely no expert in decorating, but if there’s one thing I do know, it’s that turning your place into your home takes time. Going slow with the bells and whistles and accessories like the ones in this newsletter lets you keep your head on straight. And take it from me—picking little things to upgrade or add month after month rather than all at once is a lot easier for your wallet to handle!
Other things I bought and/or liked recently: My favorite NYC sushi. These swaggy/super comfy New Balances, just in time to see them on Queen HB herself!!! The ultimate seasoning/subject of my very first Shit I Bought and Liked! About 8 million of these plastic drawer inserts because someone finally tackled bathroom drawer organization. Harry Styles merch. These genius compostable trash bags (gifted via work, but they still count!). A lingerie shower favorite. Easy NYT beans n’ greens. This at-home manicure must-have paired with this very chic brown polish.
Last thing—this is probably the last time I’ll write to you all before Election Day! As I hope we know by now, Election Day is the LAST day you have to vote, so if you’re able to where you live, get it done early! This issue is all about little things that make a big impact, and that’s exactly what voting is (plus, as a completely free activity, it is very budget-friendly—we could use a few more of those around here)!!!!
Xo,
Priyanka
I love compostable bags. I compost them in my garden and they disintegrate excellently along with all my organic waste. I understand each brand of bag is different, the ones we use are certified OK HOME COMPOST. They are from the AMS COMPOSTABLE brand and we get them in Florida www.amscompostableusa.com.