31. A $500 Dyson vacuum

Dyson V11 Torque Drive Vacuum, $500, available at Amazon

The floor of our apartment, which houses four people with long hair and a cat, collects dust, hair, and food crumbs like no other. Dyson's cordless stick vacuum makes it easy to clean up our dirty floors because it's thorough, efficient, and powerful.

The LCD screen at the top of a handle is a new feature that lets me know how much time is left before I have to plug the vacuum back in to charge. Dyson says the screen was added to help reduce "run time anxiety," which is apparently common among its current users. On Auto mode, the V11 adapts to and deep cleans a variety of floor types with a balanced amount of suction power. Eco mode is made for lighter, longer cleans, while Boost mode provides up to five minutes of super powerful, intensive cleaning. —Connie Chen, senior reporter

Read our review: I tried Dyson's most powerful cordless vacuum yet — here's why the $700 price tag makes sense