Spring Living Room Makeover {DIY #FreshAccents}

There’s something about spring that makes a person want to freshen things up and bring life to dull, winter blues. Not that winter here is intense or anything…I live in South Texas and all, but it is still nice to revamp a space.

This time I was inspired by the new Renuzits Fresh Accents available at Walmart (you can see my shopping shenanigans over on Google+.) With the $1 coupon from Facebook (you get the coupon when you send a gorgeous e-card), these lovelies only cost 76-cents each. Furthermore, the Renuzits Fresh Accents inspired me to “renu” my living room.

 

Problem is, I don’t have a dime to spare because of the bathroom reno, however, the room needs a facelift. Other than decorating the mantel for holidays, it’s pretty much the same as when I painted the wood paneling. And lately, it’s even more of a hot mess. See below for proof.

Hot. Mess.

So, I told myself I could spend $75 on a room makeover. Not a penny more. How did I do? Well, let’s check it out.

The inspiration: lots of creamy neutrals with splashes of pattern and color. I am usually afraid to decorate with too much pattern/too many colors, but I forced myself to go outside my comfort zone. I love the results.

^ My birthday flowers. I love them and they served as a fantastic jumping point for my Renuzits inspired makeover.

Here we go!

I purchased 2 new ikat-ish throw pillows for $7.50 each, plus I purchased 2 foam core boards for $1 each and cut up an old damask shower curtain to make decorative wall panels. (I meticulously made sure they matched, so I obviously have to point that out). The panels are hung with double sided tape because they’re uber light.

I also snagged this awesome gray/yellow NYC canvas print for $15 at Ross.

I put one of my Renuzit fresh accents air freshener on this console table. I love that they are reversible. Here I use one side, and I love that it just blends in. It doesn’t scream, “Hey I am trying to destinkify the living room!”

New mantle with a $1 store hydrangea art print plus 2 new square candles for $1 each.

My lovely new tufted storage ottoman. We snagged her for $26. She was originally $125. Ouch! I also put my ghost chairs here to create a cozy conversation area. And with the candles lit, it looks so chic. Swoon.

And here’s another Renuzits fresh accents holder, but on the flipside. It’s keeping Pee Wee company on the new ottoman.

I already had these curtains,  but never ever used them. They work so great in here. It’s nice to shop in your own house! Also, I kept some fabric scraps from my damask shower curtain and used them as curtain tiebacks. Pee Wee approves. That rug was just shoved in a closet, and I never even thought of how perfect it is in front of the patio doors.

I also rearranged my bookshelves to add in more color. It’s spring; a room needs to be bright!

I am just so excited that Renuzits Fresh Accents inspired me to freshen up my living room. My new living room smells divine thanks to their “after the rain” fresh accents scent. It’s clean, crisp yet subtle. No one wants their house to smell like an air freshener, right?

And, even better, I only spent around $65 to have a totally new living room look. Most of the items I already had on hand, but had to look at in a new way in order to make it work.

I am in love. Love.

What do you think of my budget revamp? Will you be buying some Renuzits Fresh Accents soon? Don’t forget to print your coupon!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

Happy Birthday to Me… {Life}

Today marks my 27th birthday. Or as I like to call it, “Baby Monica Day.”

On this very day, 27 years ago I entered this world ready for all the sparkles and glitter and tufted furniture that the world had to offer.

I also entered the world with super curly hair…that I still hate.

Ever since I was little, I’ve had a love of things that make life a little more beautiful. In the picture below I am convinced I am marveling at some sort of tufted chair in the corner. Perhaps. It’s the same expression I make now when I watch Candice Olson on HGTV. It’s sheer terror mixed with sheer admiration. Impeccably Monica.

And I’ve always loved posing with things I love. Honestly, I have no clue what that stuffed animal is. And this is as close to seeing me in my underwear as you all are gonna get. I keep it klassy, folks.

And I’ve always been the type of girl who is up for a great party, frilly dress and breaking things.

So for 27 and onward, I hope to be happier than I was in my teens:

Smarter than I was in college:

As health obsessed as I was when I was engaged:

As gorgeous as I felt on my wedding day:

And a better person, inside and out, everyday.

My how time flies. I’m getting teary eyed just writing this post… like I’m saying goodbye to myself or something. But I am saying goodbye to 26 and hello to 27. I wish I could say I am like a fine wine that gets better with age, but honestly I feel like as I am getting older, I am spoiling. I guess maybe I treat myself like I am past my expiration date, when in fact I have a long shelf life ahead of me.

My gift to myself this year is me: as is, constantly improving and hopefully a little bit happier. And ready to get her hands dirty by playing with glitter.

What I wish my gift to myself would be:

Gotta love Kate Spade, gotta hate her prices. That lovely bag is $458.

And I have a bathroom reno to finish, so on my wish list she stays.

So in honor of Baby Monica Day, remember that you are fabulous, you are beautiful and you are special.

And remember to smile today. I surely am.

Happy birthday to me. :)

The Master Bath {Renovations}

We demolished our bathroom.

That’s not quite as dramatic as it sounds. Although if you knew what brought on our demolish rampage, you might feel a little differently.

You see, it was last Saturday or so and I was sitting on my butt all day thoroughly enjoying the Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family. Then something struck within me that made me feel like I needed to do something. So, I got up and decided to give the master bathroom a good scrub down. As I started working on that, I thought to myself:

What if instead of completely gutting the bathroom, we gave it a facelift and did a full reno in a few years?

With my new idea in mind, I went to tell my husband who was basically sick with the flu and delirious due to many doses of Nyquil. He liked the idea, and so we went to the bathroom to remove a panel of those faux tile thingies. Ugh, who the hell thought of those? Probably the cousin of whoever invented wood paneling, right? Geez.

And…we found a hot mess under the faux tile panel surrounding the shower enclosure. The drywall was moist and I could see mold.

So much for that idea.

And then Daniel says something that only someone who has had too much Nyquil can say:

Harry Potter is so strong and keeps going after Voldemort. We can demo this bathroom and make it nice.

People, I cannot make this stuff up.

While the thought of just saying a few spells is tempting, it’s not going to be that easy.

image credit: cheezburger.com

With the power of Harry Potter in us, we started to demolish our bathroom. And by demolish I mean daintily remove our ugly linen cabinet and vanity. That’s all. We still have a shower stall and toilet in there because we don’t have the tools to demo those just yet. And truthfully, we’re keeping the toilet since it’s a fancy Kohler one and perfectly good. A sledgehammer is on my shopping list for this weekend to tackle the heinous shower stall though.

The photo above shows what 8 hours of Harry Potter will do to a man with the flu. And it also shows what I mean by faux tile panels.

I don’t quite know what to do next. Once we have most of the bathroom down to the studs, it’d be a lovely time to get the pros out for estimates. We are pretty sure we need a plumber, electrician and a tile dude. Finding pros in my tiny town is proving to be quite a feat. I find 4 different numbers for one pro and they’re all disconnected. If something goes wrong on this reno, am I going to be able to get in contact with him to get it fixed? Oh the stress. Am I overreacting?

Part of me just wants to put the vanity back and live with it, but now that I’ve seen moisture warped walls and mold, there’s no turning back. Also, I am 99.9% sure that nothing has been done or upgraded in this bathroom since it was built in 1979. With the exception of wallpaper being put OVER wallpaper and faux tile panels.

Fugly y’all. Just ew.

Now I need a new vanity, a shower stall with fixtures, and tile.

Vanity Contender, via Overstock.com:

Shower Fixture Contender, via Overstock.com:

Tile Contender, via Floor & Décor Outlets:

My biggest conundrum right now is do I want a shower stall with a pre-fabricated base (which requires moving of the drain by a plumber) or do I want a custom shower pan created around the current drain?

Pre-Fab Shower Pan:

Custom Shower Pan:

So, that’s where we’re at.

I am worried that no matter how much research, prep and work I do on these pros, I will end up with a shoddy bathroom. Which then makes me decide to DIY this whole thing, but I have no experience in doing so…then I really might end up with a shoddy bathroom.

Maybe it’s time to stop watching so much Holmes on Homes; it just leads to contractor paranoia.

Dear Harry, what have I gotten myself into?

Help.

Wine & Dine {Recipe & Review}

My husband and I love to eat out, but doing that too often drains our bank account and expands our waistline. So, we try to eat in as much as we can at home. We make the usual things like pasta, chicken with wild rice or grill up some burgers. But sometimes you want something special to eat that is tasty, affordable and makes the meal feel a little fancier. We love to do that sort of thing on Wednesday nights because we love to watch comedy Wednesday together on ABC. It’s 2 hours of laughing, cuddling together and forgetting about work stress.

And one way to forget about stress?

Wine.

My husband and I both like wine, though I’ll safely say I like it a lot more than he does. He only likes the sparkling kind, which works out great because sparkling Moscato-type of wines go with anything. I love to try new wines, and I tend to usually buy wine that’s about $8-$15 a bottle. Depending on the stress levels at work during the current week, I tend to have wine about 3-4 times a week with my dinner.

Yesterday we headed to Walmart after work to put together a quick, bistro inspired meal to have with some tasty wine. Usually we look at recipes and pick something to make, but this time we just decided to walk around and see what inspired us. We took the Sandra Lee (from Food Network) approach and decided on a semi-homemade meal. Ingredients that are already prepared + some creativity=restaurant quality meal at home.

For a lot less.

Daniel and I ended up settling on mini roast beef & cheddar sandwiches paired with an arugula & spinach salad garnished with grape tomatoes. For dessert, a vanilla strawberry shortcake. And of course, wine. This meal is affordable (you can easily serve 4 people), healthy/fresh and QUICK to make.

Mini Roast Beef Sandwiches:

-Roast Beef (we bought the one from the deli)

-Brown gravy (optional)

-Sliced french bread

-Shredded cheddar

Salad:

-Arugula & spinach organic salad blend

-Grape tomatoes

-Dressing

Dessert:

-Angel food cakes

-1 cup fresh strawberries

-2 tbsp Torani french vanilla syrup

-Whipped cream

-Chocolate chips (optional)

If you’re making this right after you get home from the grocery store, make sure to chill your wine in the freezer so it’s cold and ready by the time your meal is done.

Heat your oven to 200 degrees, and put your sliced french bread on a cookie sheet. Bake for 4-5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes is done, take out the bread and garnish each slice with a pinch of shredded cheese. Bake an additional 2-3 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Then turn oven off and leave bread in oven until you’re ready to top with roast beef.

Meanwhile, warm up your gravy according to the package instructions (we bought the gravy in a jar since we like the ease of storing leftover gravy). Once your gravy is warm, add in roast beef. Let cook on medium for about 5-7 minutes.

Once your bread and roast beef are warmed up, prepare your salad. This is such an easy, yet flavorful salad. We halved the grape tomatoes and put them in a bowl with the arugula and spinach salad. Add in some salt, pepper and about 2 tbsp of dressing and toss until everything is coated.

Then grab a plate, load up half of it with your healthy salad, mini roast beef sandwiches (I drizzled mine with gravy) and enjoy with a glass of wine.

The wine we picked out for our TV night bistro meal is Moscato D’Asti by Bella Bolle. At $7.97 it was an affordable way to jazz up a simple salad and sandwich meal. It has a nice, yet subtle sweetness to it that makes it a wine that will be universally liked by anyone. Some people don’t like reds or pinot grigio, etc. This wine is easily palatable by anyone. It’s bubbly, refreshing and classy. It would also be great for a girls night in movie night or to use in a spiked punch. I’ll be buying this wine regularly from now because my husband actually really, truly liked this wine.

It must be the bubbles.

And since I have the world’s largest sweet tooth, I had to whip up a quick dessert. This takes 5 minutes, tops.

Take about 2 handfuls of strawberries and cut off the green stuff. Then slice them up into bite size chunks.

Put strawberries in a microwave safe bowl and add in 2 tbsp of Torani sugar free vanilla syrup. Make sure all the strawberries are coated and microwave for 1 minute.

Then you just top the angel food cake with some strawberries and whipped cream. I garnished mine with some chocolate chips, too. The vanilla syrup tends to drip down and soak into the angel food cake which makes it so delicious.

And then it’s time for another serving of wine in my most favorite wine glass.

Having wine with dinner at home makes an everyday occasion into a special occasion. With wines as low as $2.97 at my local Walmart, it’s nice to know that adding wine to our grocery list won’t break the bank. And it’s also so much more affordable than wine at a restaurant. My fave wines are Moscatos, but another really good one is the Barefoot Sweet Red.

It is amazing, and I don’t even care for red wine. If your dinner guest doesn’t like wine all that much, then the sparkling wines are a great option. Need some wine on the go (legally, of course)? Then look at these new wine pouches.

I may buy some wine pouches next time I need some for girls night in.

How often do you have wine? Where do you buy it from? Any brands or wines you’d recommend to a gal like me?

This post has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions, photos and ideas are all my own. #cBias