30 Day Challenge: Day 13, Halloween!!!

Bert and Mary Poppins

Feed the birds...

Halloween is not an exception from this 30 Day Challenge. I am so excited that not only mine, but my husband's costume is from our closet! The only thing I needed to purchase was the black felt for the hat. (Craft materials are within the rules). Two costumes for $3 is a good deal! I think we look pretty cute! Sometimes it is nice to have a classy Halloween costume.

Key Pieces:

Mary Poppins:

• Shirt: J. Crew 2012
• Skirt: Zara, very old
• Shoes: Steve Madden 2011
• Bow tie: made from ribbon with safety pin
• Hat: made from felt with hydrangea from my back yard
• Pigeon: usually used as our Christmas tree topper (yea that's right)
• Gloves: from costumes of years past

Bert:

• Chimney Sweep: made from curtain rod and leftover felt from Mary's hat
• Vest: Hollander & Lexer
• Shirt: Scotch and Soda
• Pants: Calvin Klein
• Hat: H&M
• Shoes: G.H. Bass

30 Day Challenge: Day 12, Preppy Yellow

This is actually a dress layered with a sweater to make it look like a skirt. I am starting to really like print mixing. As long as you use different scales of print/pattern it can look really good!

Key Pieces: 

• Sweater: Gap 2011
• Dress: Old Navy 2013
• Boots: Guess 2011
• Bag: Dooney and Bourke vintage

30 Day Challenge: Day 11, Look Good Feel Good

I feel great in this outfit. When you look good, you feel good! I think the blazer makes me feel powerful and professional. Purple is also my favorite color, but I think this is the only purple thing I own, huh. I love how the mustard color of the shoes contrasts with the brightness of the jacket. My legs (my least favorite body part) look pretty amazing too. Thanks again, Uniqlo!

Key Pieces:

• Jacket: H&M 2012
• Cami: Urban Outfitters 2011
• Pants: Uniqlo 2013
• Necklace: C Wonder
• Shoes: vintage

30 Day Challenge: Day 10, Field Jacket

These boots seem to go with everything! They were a good investment from a few years ago. I usually don't like to show this much leg, but the boots make me feel more comfortable. This dress was 20 bucks at a street fair, FTW. You can't go wrong with an olive field jacket.

Key Pieces:

• Jacket: G.H. Bass 2013
• Dress: street fair 2013
• Belt: Madewell 2012
• Boots: Guess 2011

30 Day Challenge: Day 9, 90's Throwback

This shirt is my husband's, but we share a closet, so technically it came out of my closet. That's OK, right? (Did I mention we only have ONE closet in our part of the house?!) This outfit is great for a lazy Sunday. The Uniqlo pants are back for the win! It feels like I am wearing sweat pants, but looks like a am wearing real pants. Yay!

Key Pieces:

• Shirt: Gap 2010 (men's)
• Tank: Uniqlo 2013
• Pants: Uniqlo 2013
• Boots: Nine West 2011
• Necklaces: Tassel Necklace via Pretty Girl Handbags on Etsy, Big Flag via Jewel Mint

30 Day Challenge: Day 8, Girly Camouflage

Casual and cute! Bows make anything girlier, including these camouflage skinnies. I was attracted to these pants because they are a more neutral/subtle version of the classic green camo that is trending right now.  This sweater has been in my closet for a few years. I like the look of it, but it is very itchy. Luckily, I had a pink shirt in my closet to break up the neutrals and shield me from the itch. 

Key Pieces:

• Sweater: Esprit
• Shirt: Gap, Fitted Boyfriend
• Pants: G.H. Bass
• Shoes: Lucky, via Rue La La
• Bag: vintage Dooney and Bourke

Living Room Face Lift

Say hello to the upstairs living room, located in our tenant's apartment. When we tore up the old carpet, we were hoping for one of those HGTV moments where there is beautiful hardwood floors underneath. No such luck. At least the sub floor was flat and in tact. We decided to take on this flooring project ourselves...

First we removed the rug, padding, and staples to have a flat and clean surface for the new flooring. Our new vise grip was a huge help getting the staples out. We also ripped out the baseboard. 

After the floor was cleared of debris and staples, we laid the red underlayment. It acts as a moisture barrier, sound reducer, and cushion. For the floor, we chose a click lock engineered hardwood in hand scraped maple from the Home Depot. Laying the underlayment and floor was quite easy and only took a weekend! You don't have to nail it in, it just clicks into place. Those little black things against the wall are spacers. You need to leave some room between the wall and flooring so the wood can expand and contract in different temperatures. My husband and I had a good system going. He cut the wood, I laid and measured the planks. 

The stove is disconnected, saw dust is very flammable!

The most challenging part of this project was the baseboard. (Unfortunately I don't have any good pics of it). We got a great bargain from Built it Green, our local salvage place; $10 for 50 feet of primed baseboard!!! What made the installation challenging was that the floor was slightly bowed in the middle. Because of the bowing there was a gap left under some of the baseboard, so we had to fill the gap with caulk. We also had to carefully measure and miter every angle which is why the radial saw was necessary.

before & after!

Furnished!

This project could not have been done without the right tools. Thankfully our friend lent us his radial saw. We also bought a floor spacing kit so that the floor had enough room to expand. Here is a list of what we used:

Tools:

• Saw: circular saw is fine if you are only doing the flooring. For the baseboard you will need a miter saw.
• Vise grip or hammer: to remove staples
• Crowbar: to remove baseboard

Materials:

• Engineered click lock flooring
• Underlayment
• Floor spacing installation kit

30 Day Challenge: Day 7, Quirky Sweater

This zebra sweater is so much fun! I bought it in the summer because I loved it so much and held onto it until the weather got cooler. This skirt is another summer staple that I am transitioning into fall. It works perfectly with tall boots.

Key Pieces:
Sweater: G.H. Bass 2013
Shirt: G.H. Bass 2010
Skirt: Comptoir de Cotonniers 2012 (hand me down from a friend)
Boots: Guess 2011

30 Day Challenge: Day 6, Hot Pink

As I am making all of these outfits, I am realizing how much navy and neutrals I have in my closet. That's no fun! It is time for some color! This is pretty much the only colored sweater I have. You can't really tell in this pic, but this is the brightest pinkest color I have ever seen. I added the scarf so it does not reflect off of my face lol. The tiny knit skirt is nicely proportioned with the slightly oversized silhouette of the sweater.

This is how I tied my scarf. It is really easy! The only thing I did differently, was that I tucked one of the tails back up into the knot. This pic is all over Pinterest right now. Unfortunately I have no idea who to credit for it because none of the pics link back to anything.

Key Pieces:

• Sweater: H&M 2013
• Skirt: H&M 2012
• Leggings: H&M
• Scarf: Gap 2012
• Boots: Frye (last year's splurge!)

30 Day Challenge: Day 5, Jeweled Sweatshirt

This is such a comfortable outfit, while still looking pulled together. I love a little bling and a good sweatshirt. No extra jewelry necessary! As for the pants, I can't say enough, they are from Uniqlo and are amazing. They are as comfortable as a legging, but a little heavier so you can wear them as a pant. The best part is that they don't fall down and I am not constantly hiking them up all day. For $29.99 you can't go wrong!

Key Pieces:

• Sweatshirt: from my Etsy shop, Half Dressed
• Shirt: J. Crew
• Pants: Uniqlo
• Sunnies: Marc by Marc Jacobs
• Boots: Frye (last year's splurge!)

30 Day Challenge: Day 4, Green and Navy

I usually only wear this skirt in the summer, but paired with a sweater it works nicely in the fall! These boots were totally forgotten until I came across them last week, and I still love them!

Key Pieces:

• Sweater: Zara, 2011
• Skirt: Anthropologie, 2011
• Necklaces: Tiny Flags from Flirty Fig via etsy, Big Flag from Jewel Mint
• Boots: G.H. Bass

Bathroom Blues

Say hello to the upstairs bathroom, located in our current tenant's apartment. When we first laid eyes on this beauty, she was feeling the blues with some very dated decor. This was an almost gut renovation that was finished before anyone moved into the house. We were able to salvage the tub because it was in pretty good shape (albeit filthy), and gave it a face lift by glazing it to white. Everything else was brand new. We could not wait to get all of that blue out of there!

fancy lighting

After! Ah, much better.

Because this is a rental, we wanted to keep the design simple, durable, and cheap. This isn't the fanciest or exciting bathroom you will see, but it is clean, functional, and updated!

• Subway Tiles: Home Depot. An affordable classic.
• Floor Tiles: Home Depot. We chose a darker color that will not show dirt and wear. 
• Toilet: American Standard, via Home Depot. We chose this toilet because of its sleek shape. We needed something small, that did not stick out of the wall too much. It also has the dual flush!
• Vanity & Mirror: Glacier Bay, via Home Depot
• Faucet: from Home Depot, in store special
• Light Fixture: Home Depot

30 Day Challenge: Day 3, Pattern Play

I am getting my Monday pick me up from a fun outfit! I love dots, I love stripes, so this is a match made in heaven! This combo works without being too crazy. The blue necklace and yellow pumps add a needed pop of color.

Key Pieces:

• Sweater: H&M, 2012
• Pants: Uniqlo, 2012
• Necklace: J. Crew
• Shoes: vintage

30 Day Challenge: Day 2, Sunday Funday

OMG I am wearing a dress on a Sunday! My summer maxi dress has made it to fall, but with the addition of a denim shirt and scarf. Bonus: I MADE the scarf!!! As Halloween approaches, I thought the skulls were a fun detail.

Key Pieces:

• Shirt: G.H. Bass, 2013
• Dress: Old Navy, 2013
• Scarf: available on my Etsy shop, Half Dressed
• Boots: very old
• Bag: vintage Dooney and Bourke

30 Day Challenge: Day 1, Casual Saturday

It is Saturday! The weekends are a challenge for me to not look like crap, so I have put some extra effort into this one. Instead of my usual jeans, sweatshirt, and sneakers I tried to pull it together with a shirt (wow what a concept) layered with a cardigan, back to my favorite skinnies and boots. I think the jewelry and makeup help too. Now I won't show up to brunch looking like the walking dead, yay!

Key Pieces:

• Sweater: Gap, 2011
• Shirt: J. Crew Factory, 2013
• Jeans: Levi's Bold Curve Skinny Jeans 
• Boots: G.H. Bass, 2011
• Bag: vintage Dooney and Bourke
• Belt: Madewell, 2012
• Bracelet: via Jewel Mint
• Necklace: gift
• Specs: Juicy Couture

30 Day Challenge: Intro

It is Fall and stores are filled with their new collections, and I want to buy EVERYTHING! After a mini shopping spree, I came home and realized that I had not even looked in my seasonal box to see what I already had for the season. It was like Christmas when I finally decided to change out my closet. I had a ton of stuff! After speaking with a friend, she suggested that it would be "fun" to try to make it through the season without buying anything. Well, I like a good challenge so that is just what I am going to do. I have returned the things purchased from my recent mini spree. The 30 Day Challenge is going to be 30 days of different outfits pulled from things I already have in my closet. Now let's see what happens, wish me luck!

THE RULES:

• No buying new clothes and accessories. This is going to be tough!
• Notions, fabric, and supplies are allowed to make something new, or update something old.
• Be creative and try new things! 

Welcome to Tiny House

Welcome to our Tiny House, built in 1925 in Queens, NY. My husband, 2 cats, and I moved in January 2013, but not after a lot of hard work. Here I will take you through the transformation and story of our home.

Basic Stats:

• 2 family (we live downstairs, and rent out upstairs)
• 1300 s/f total (we live in 650 s/f of it)
• 1600 s/f yard (!)
• Scary old basement

Renovations done before we moved in:

• All windows replaced, some new windows added
• All walls painted
• Upstairs kitchen cabinets
• Upstairs bathroom gut renovation
• Upstairs living room floor (done by us!)
• Downstairs bathroom gut renovation
• Downstairs doorway
• Fuse box- replaced
• Electrical- updated