This is the first post of my March Stitch Fix box #15. My February Fix (see the summary HERE if you missed it) was a great one; I kept 3 out of 5 items. But this one, wasn't as great: I sent everything back. I liked everything I received, but nothing hit it out of the ballpark for me. Like I did last month, I will review one piece at a time, concluding with a summary at the end of the month.
The first item I am reviewing from my March Fix, Fix #15 is this Calvin Klein Performance Wear Top.
I mentioned in my critique to my stylist of my last Fix that I lead a casual lifestyle, so I think that's why she sent me this Calvin Klein Performance Wear top in my Fix. She also knew I liked the color lavender.
The color of the top is very pretty and I love the soft feel to the knit, but that's where my love ends. The top is described on the style card as "boxy". I don't think boxy looks good on anyone, and it's especially not good on my already top-heavy frame. I need something with more structure. And even though I lead a casual lifestyle, I don't want to wear performance wear out of the house. I only get out twice a week on average, so I want to look nice and wear "real" clothes.
Since I sent the top back, I styled it for the purpose of a photo shoot only. Since it's "performance wear" I paired it with skinny jeans from Charlotte Russe, a white hoodie, sneakers, and a back pack bag (all old except the jeans).
I found this cute white back pack bag on-line from JCPenney last year. The shoes are by Dr. Scholls and I have had them forever.
The top is super comfy. The cost was $58.00 which is ridiculously high for me. Why would I ever pay that for something to exercise in or just wear around the house? I don't know about you, but when I'm home I am always cooking, cleaning, gardening, or doing something messy. I would never wear something "new" or "expensive" because I know I'd just end up ruining it.
Every now and then I come across articles that say women should dress nice around the house to feel better about themselves. I just couldn't disagree more. Unless that woman has a maid and/or does not engage in physical labour, I just see it as a dumb way to wreck nice clothes. 😆 What are your thoughts about that?
As I stated earlier, even though it's trending to wear performance wear outside the house, I do not. I like to dress up when I go out. Unless I plan a physical event that day (like hiking in a park) I would not wear this top outside the house.
So what about you? Do you wear Performance Wear outside your home or gym? What do you think of this top? Did I make the right decision to send it back? I'd love to hear from you!
I received this cute black floral dress in my February Stitch Fix box. I loved it the minute I saw it in the box! The print was so lovely and I liked the cute and "flouncy" look. It's super comfortable too! I'm sure when the weather turns hot and sunny (will that even happen this year?) I will be living in it!
It is sleeveless, so it will be great for hot weather. Yet because there are no sleeves, a cardigan or coat will fit nicely over it if needed. I also like that it does not have spaghetti straps so I can wear a regular bra with it. It has a keyhole neckline which provides another interesting detail.
It's not warm enough yet to wear this outfit in Wisconsin so this look was put together for photography purposes only.
For jewelry, I skipped a necklace because of the interesting keyhole neckline and I just wore a coral colored bracelet and earrings with rose gold earrings.
I thought my orange bag complimented the orange/coral flowers in the dress nicely.
The dress has an elastic waist. I put a skinny black belt over the elastic portion of the dress.
I picked up these cute black sandals at an end of season clearance sale at JCPenney last fall.
The upper portion of the back is a solid black.
The dress is the perfect length for running around about town on a hot summer day: not too long or too short.
And as promised, here is a summary of my February Fix #14. You can click on the item description to get more information about each piece.
I am so excited to finally be able to show you my newly remodeled guest room. It turned out so beautiful and I couldn't be more pleased. If you missed my earlier posts and would like to see the "Before" and inspiration pictures check out this post HERE. I also did a construction post HERE where my husband did a video explaining how he made a pocket door.
Now lets begin the tour of the new guest room. The guest room is located right across the hall from the Master Bedroom. It is a very small room with angled ceilings on each end of the room. One side of the room has two large windows and the other side (opposite of the bed) is a large closet.
This is the view of the guest room from the Master bedroom.
And this is the view of the room if you were standing in the doorway looking to the left.
The room used to have a queen bed side ways against the wall. It was very awkward to get in and out of the bed if two people used the bed. It was also quite the challenge to make the bed. To solve that problem we went down from a queen size mattress to a full. We then were able to fit custom made nightstands on either side of the bed.
I purchased this simple, upholstered headboard from Wayfair for $100.00. My husband built the platform the mattress sits on. Originally I had intended to buy a white headboard, but when I saw this one it was love at first sight and I changed my mind. I really liked the tweed fabric and how it stood out from the wall color. I was afraid a white headboard would blend in with the wall too much and not make much of a statement.
Everything in the room is brand new except the light fixture, the "Paris" metal sign, and one small Paris picture. Originally I intended to reuse a lot of the fabrics from the original room, but my husband did not like the toile and wanted me to get rid of it.
The light fixture seemed to coordinate well with the metals and colors already in the room, so we did not change it out.
The beautiful Paris picture on the left wall was purchased at Ross for $24.99. I couldn't believe my luck when I found it. It was as if it was made for the room. The colors in the painting could not have coordinated more than if I planned it that way!
I picked Millennial Pink as my accent color for the room. The pink pillow and blanket were purchased at Home Goods.
We shopped around for night stands but could not find any the size that we needed. We only had 18 inches to spare on either side of the bed and most nightstands are around 24 inches wide. So my husband came to the rescue and made these out of pre-painted shelving material and trim from a home improvement store. I LOVE the way they turned out, and frankly, they look better than any nightstand I found in the store and for a fraction of the price. I'm so happy I'm married to a carpenter!
The night stands are very modern and simple. They are made of two different colors of distressed wood: white and grey. I placed a lamp on each nightstand and different nick-knacks on each one. For the right night stand I added a floral bouquet of white and pink roses, a basket, and a photo album containing pictures of my daughter's wedding.
The light fixtures took the longest to find. The size had to be "just right" because of the narrow space and the angled ceilings. I searched for weeks and finally found these modern light fixtures with rectangular shades at Target.
The flower arrangement believe it or not, I found at Walmart for $4.99.
On the other night stand I placed a mirror tray and a pink jar.
On the lower shelves of this night stand sits a pretty wooden box and a white elephant.
To the right of the bed another Paris-themed picture hangs. The pinks and greys in the picture pull out the colors in the bed.
This is the view if you were sitting in the bed. The windows are to your left, the closet is straight ahead, and the pocket door is to your right.
I already had the drapery hardware in storage; I bought them years ago for another project, but never used them. They ended up being perfect for this room as the black iron matched the black iron in the "Paris" sign and in the light fixture.
The drapes are all new. I couldn't find eight drapery panels exactly the same at the discount home stores I shop at; so I purchased four of two different kinds of drapes: one set for the window and one set for the closet.
These are the window drapes. They are a crinkled ivory with a scroll pattern.
These are the closet drapes. They are also an ivory, but have a off-white/slightly beige print on them.
My husband and I were shopping and I spotted this photo frame set on clearance for only $9.00. I instantly fell in love with the quote and I knew it would be perfect for the new room. The distressed grey paint on the frame matched the distressed grey paint on the nightstands. I printed out some of my favorite family photos in black and white to go inside the frames. I love the personal touch this added to the room.
On the opposite side of the room is a wicker laundry basket for my guests to use and another Paris -themed picture.
This picture was in the original room and matched the new room perfectly so I kept it.
I picked up the laundry basket at Home Goods for $24.99. Jackson has jumped on top of it twice now and collapsed the lid inside the basket, falling inside. He gets so scared when he falls in. He's so funny!
On the other side of the room is this upholstered stool. It opens up and hold shoes. Unfortunately Jackson knew it opened and put bite marks all over it within 24 hours of bringing it into the house. He wanted to open it so he could jump inside. Oh, the joys of having pets!
I didn't want to cover up our new beautiful floor with a large rug, so I added this small one right at the foot of the bed.
We could have fit a small dresser on the pocket wall door, but wanted to leave as much floor space in the room as possible for a crib.
Finally, here is a financial break down of the newly re-decorated guest room:
Paint: $15.00 (most of the paint was free with rebate) Flooring: $425.00 (laminate floor and space rug)
Wow! That's a lot of money. If you would have told me when I started I'd end up spending that much money on a remodel I would have said you were crazy. It ended up costing this much because of flooring and getting a new bed. When we decided to turn the mattress and go from a queen to a full I not only had to buy a new mattress and headboard, but I had to buy all new bedding: two sets of sheets, a mattress cover, duvet cover, blanket, bed skirt, throw, pillow, and a coverlet for the summer months. It really added up!
Everything in the room was purchased at discount stores like HomeGoods, TJMaxx, Ross, Menards, and Target.
Finally, here is a video of me walking you through the entire room explaining everything in fuller detail.
Even though the room ended up costing me a lot more that I originally planned, I am absolutely thrilled with it! I can't believe the transformation from the dark, gloomy room it was before to the light, happy place is it now. I love waking up in the morning and seeing this gorgeous room across the hall. It seems so much more spacious to me now just from adding a pocket door and painting it a lighter color. It's also Jackson's favorite room now. He is always napping on the Millennial Pink blanket or snuggling against the fluffy pink pillow! He has great taste, what can I say?
