Nothing like winter-weather-induced cabin fever to get your home decorating juices flowing. Spurred on by your utter contempt for everything you currently own, these inexpensive living room decorating tips will keep both your local donation center and bank account happy. Once you’ve charitably pilfered your goods away, keep reading to shop for some creative albeit budget-friendly decoration upgrades.

Carry About Vase

Toss your grandmothers keepsakes that you never wanted anyway. Replace them with these Carry Around Vases, sold as one but worth buying a couple extra. Adding height and reflective surfaces to your living room is a quick and simple way to open up the room.  These will do wonders for your coffee table or curio cabinets. Pop in a trio of wild flowers or start a miniature succulent garden to capitalize on their airy, clean appearance.

Check Prices on All Modern

Olivia + Poppy Simoney Peonies Floral and Botanical Peel and Stick Wallpaper Roll

It’s not for commitment phobes, wallpaper that is. So this gorgeous Olivia + Poppy peel + stick is a great starter version for those interested in upgrading their living room without the responsibility or expense. This type of inexpensive decoration works for dorm rooms, apartments, rentals, and small spaces. With a super sharp pair of scissors and a couple extra ounces of patience, a steady hand and weekend are all you need to master this temporary, impactful upgrade.

Check Prices on Perigold

Tucson Console Table

High on stuff but low on funds? This Tucson Console Table slides behind your sofa and gives your Roku remote, library book, Kindle, cell phone, tablet, wine glass, and growler a resting place for the evening while you Netflix and chill without the clutter. For less than the cost of a night out on the town, this gives you just one more excuse to stay in. #treatyoself

Check Prices on Target

Sunnydaze Decor Zen Ventless Bio Ethanol Tabletop Fireplace

If your recent outdoor Tinder date went as well as you expected, there’s a chance your going to want to bring them over for a glass of wine by the fireplace. But as luck would have it, your condo didn’t come with a fireplace. Or washer and dryer, but that’s another issue entirely. This sweet little tabletop fireplace brings some zen to your den on the cheap, firing up the night in a safe but affordable kind of way.

Check Hayneedle for Prices

BelleBotanica Watercolor Herbs Print Set No. 1

There is something so elegant and ethereal about this print set from BelleBotanica. It’s simple. It’s clean. It’s quick. Pick up some 5×7 inch frames from Hobby Lobby on the super cheap to square out your new art gallery. Bonus points to the weekend warrior that also plants some of these varietals on their back porch for a true upgrade.

Check Prices on Etsy

Litex Brushed Nickel Mesh Min Pendant Shade

Here’s a bright idea! Replace all the lamp shades on the pendant lights suspended from the ceiling above the coffee table in your living room! This inexpensive upgrade will make the whole room shine in a brand new way! The brushed nickel mesh also helps to give your living space a more masculine feel, which works well in conjunction with the more flowerly items seen earlier in this post.

Check Prices on Bed, Bath, & Beyond

6 Inexpensive Items to Upgrade Your Living Room this Weekend

It’s hot then it’s cold. And then a blizzard hits. And then your street floods. And then it snows again so the floodwaters freeze and all the while your power bill looks like the Rocky Mountains in bar graph form. We feel you. We are also here to help you. These quick fixes will reduce your utility bills in short order.

Honeywell Air Cleaner Filter

The air carries a ton of stuff outside of the oxygen and nitrogen we were taught about in school. Air carries allergens, airborne bacteria, pet dander, and viruses. With a premium air filter, like the Honeywell Air Cleaner Filter, you can breathe easy knowing that all that garbage never makes it inside your home. Fresh air filters replaced every six months make it easier for your HVAC to circulate air, cutting down on costs and improving internal air quality.

Check Prices on Home Depot

Deflecto Dryer Duct Cleaning Kit

Not only is your dryer the biggest use of energy in your entire home, it’s also one of the most hazardous. So solve two problems with one solution. By giving your dryer duct a thorough cleaning, removing the dryer lint build up, you’re making it easier for your dryer to do its job while reducing the chances of its spontaneously combusting.

Check Prices on Amazon

NRG Toilet Tank Flush Less Water Saver Displacement Bag

Sometimes, the most low tech solutions will save you the most on your utility bills. The NRG Toilet Tank Bag simply takes up space in your toilet tank, reducing the amount of water needed to fill the tank after every flush. It’s a simple, not-so-elegant “gadget” that can help you save for something for more elegant. Like a bidet!

Check Prices on NRG

Gardner’s Power Strip with Timer

If you’re in the kind of business that requires a timed power strip to improve performance of your grow lights, you probably don’t need to be saving on your power bill. But if you’re in the kind of home that has a smart TV, wireless router, gaming console, computer or two, and a lamp near the entertainment center, you probably do need to save on your power bill. Fun fact: most plugged in devices continue to suck power even after you turn them off with a remote or a button. This Power Strip with Timer will cut everything off at the source at a preset time saving you big bucks overnight or while you’re at work!

Check Prices on Gardner’s

3M Clear Window Film Insulator Kit

Why the cold air is able to go straight through glass windows, we’ll never understand. Shouldn’t it, you know, be a barrier between the outdoor world? Bygones. The 3M Clear Window Film Insulator easily applies to your single or double-pane windows, reducing the negative impact cold outdoor temps can have on your indoor temps, reducing the amount of effort your heater has to put out to keep your home comfy and warm.

Check Prices on Ace Hardware

5 Ways You Can Reduce Your Utility Bills This Weekend

So maybe you just got back the credit cards bills you’ve been ignoring since Black Friday and Cyber Monday. And Christmas. And maybe you realized you went way overboard on spending this year. And maybe you’re slowly coming to terms with your out-of-control habits but aren’t willing to accept them quite yet. We got you, fam. These tech accessories are priced at the bottom of the barrel without sacrificing on quality or reputation. No, they aren’t gimmicky. Yes, they are useful. Yes, you’ll want them all. No, we can’t be held liable for your own personal financial crisis.

Grid-It! Organizer

This flexible little wrangler lassos up all your head phone cords, tiny tech devices, and sundry items with ease. The rubber-threaded straps grip onto your valuables with the might of a cowboy keeping them safe from getting lost in your carry-on. These things come in small, medium, large, and extra large. And when coupled with 8 seconds of planning can save you a  horse-load of time.

Check Price on Bed, Bath & Beyond

goStrap Smartphone Holder

Are those pop-out thingamabobs not your jam? Us either. They don’t allow the phone to lay flat, causing it to wobble. But these goStrap Smartphone Holders actually keep your phone safe in hand and on the table. Their stretchy grips make it possible for you to loop your phone around your fingers in a hands-off kind of way, making this version of the smartphone stabilizer the more practical one.

Check Price on B&H PhotoVideo

CJ Tech 3 Outlet Wall Tap

It’s not your fault you have more devices than you do outlets. Your home was probably built before we as humans ceased to function without screens. This CJ Tech version of the power strip not only allows you plug in your tablet and smartphone, but also your eReader, electric blanket and lamp. BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! It also acts as a nice little cradle for that oh-so-necessary smart phone of yours.

Check Price on Staples

Zeuste Charging Cable for iPhone

If there is one thing a tech-loving person can never have enough of, it’s those pesky smartphone charging cables. No matter which camp you’re in, iPhone vs. Android, there always seems to be one cable too few. This pack of three ought to solve that problem, at least for iPhone fans. Keep one by the bed, in the car, and at your office desk for optimal charging convenience.

Check Price on Amazon

Camyse Apple Watch Band

Typically, these types of off-brand products are questionable at best. But with a five-star rating on Amazon, this Apple watch band stands out from the crowd of counterfeits. The version seen here has three different color options: black, brown, and browner. They aren’t waterproof. They aren’t the real deal. And they aren’t going to break the bank.

Check Price on Amazon

THZY Mini Car Suction Cup

For the budding Youtube vlogger in all of us, this THYZ GoPro suction mount enables you to churn out content even at highway speeds. We don’t outright endorse recording yourself while driving (eyes on the road, people) and would instead encourage you to stick this dude on your mirror for some make-up how to’s, on the side of the fridge for some excellent POV meal prepping, or perhaps even on a nearby smooth surface to live stream those Steam plays.

Check Price on Walmart

Dotz – Reusable Cord Straps

The area behind your TV cabinet is not actually meant to look like an overgrown jungle despite your cat’s attempts to climb those electrical vines. We can’t promise that these reusable cord straps will be the tech gadget that will actually dissuade your cat from doing whatever the hell it wants. But we can promise that it will at least make it more difficult for them to yank your Xbox down off the shelf.

Check Price on Best Buy

Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer

Low tech is still tech when it comes to low cost and inexpensive. So while you’re working overtime to pay off all that you’ve seen here plus those #treatyoself moments of 2017 (who are we kidding, that was the entire year of 2017), keep the motivation juice flowing at piping hot temps to keep your productivity levels somewhere near luke warm.

Check Price on Target

8 Inexpensive Tech Accessories to Enhance your Life

The New Year is a new opportunity to trick yourself into thinking you’ll form new habits in the kitchen. You won’t (statistically, you just won’t). BUT. You will buy yourself some fun new kitchen gadgets that will take your meals from everyday to upgrade.

Kitchen gadgets can take over your meal prep space fast and not in a good way. So while there are a plethora of doohickies that claim to save time, cut calories, and trim costs, these five suggestions really do!

KitchenAid 5-Speed Hand Blender

When you’re in a pinch, blend! This immersion blender from KitchenAid (obviously) makes your kitchen a verifiable meal factory. Need a smoothie? Blend it. Need a quick soup? Puree it. Need a salad dressing? Whisk it. With a name like KitchenAid, would you really expect anything else?

Check Prices on Amazon

Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker

You know you want one. Is it a unitasker? That’s pretty obvious. But it’s also a life saver. No body wants their drive-thru sammies to come with the guilt of a million unknown calories. With this counter-top gadget, you know exactly what’s in your morning meal and can customize it to taste!

Check Prices on Target

Easy Lunch Boxes

When you are short on time but big on eating, pack it in with these Easy Lunch Boxes. These keep sliced produce, pre-made sandwiches, and cooked pasta fresh for days, meaning you can meal prep once and eat twice…without double the work.

B. Smith Wood Lazy Susan

Treat your kitchen to a little summin’ summin’ sweet this year. This loopy little gadget will keep your meal time spinnin’ right ’round until you land on what you need. Great for table-top organization or spice-jar rotation.

Kilner Butter Churner

Been watching enough Great British Bake Off to know the difference between butter and butttterrrr. Kilner knows the difference. Get the good milk from the local farm and whip it into a creamy frenzy in ten minutes flat. Paul Hollywood would be so proud.

Check Kilner for Prices

5 Kitchen Gadgets that will Upgrade your Meals this Year

Fun outdoor date ideas are a dime a dozen. So we pulled together a list of unexpected adult toys that will keep your Tinder dates exciting, adventurous, and certainly memorable.

Saddle up with your adventurous buttercup any where your 4G LTE service allows. Whether you are hoping onto your city’s local greenways or dabbling in the inflatable human-sized soccer ball arts, these fun adult sized toys will give you and your Tinder date enough to share on your Instagram Stories for minutes.

Body Zorb Balls Bumper Inflatable Human Soccer Ball

Grab your Tinder date by the balls. The Inflatable Human Soccer Ball, that is. A pair of these summertime snow globes could make any Tinder date real adventurous real quick.

Check Price on Walmart

Eno Doublenest Hammock

Once you’ve successfully navigated the oft-chartered waters of Tinder first dates, tug on your stuff sack and whip out the Eno Doublenest Hammock. Designed for two but comfortable for one, this cozy canoodle cocoon brings you and your date even closer together. Or not.

Check Price on Eagle Nest

Oru Kayak Beach LT Folding Kayak

Not planning on a Tinder date this afternoon but that Swipe Right finally swipe back? Time to pull your trusty folding kayak out of the trunk of your car. Sure, it only seats one. But what better an opportunity to get close than sharing a seat in the name of buoyancy.

Check Price on REI

Mad Rock Triple Mad Pad

Pop into Earth Fare, grab some organic-fair trade-NonGMO-vegan-lactose-free granola, and strap into some rock climbing fun, made safe by this massive crash pad. This monster folds up into a sofa, making post-bouldering star gazing a comfortable nighttime activity.

Check Price on BackCountry

XL Original Teepee

Go ahead and pitch that tent.

Check Price on Etsy

Mambe Waterproof/Windproof Outdoor Blanket

If you’re looking to bring some romance to the great outdoors, this enormous fluffy blanket will work well to keep you both warm in your truck bed at the drive-in movie theater. It’s waterproof, windproof, and washable so order that popcorn and go wild!

Check Price on Amazon

6 Products to use on a date in the Great Outdoors