i created 6 different travel outfits with just 9 pieces to keep my suitcase light

Travel

I Created 6 Different Travel Outfits With Just 9 Pieces to Keep My Suitcase Light—Here’s How I Did It

Drescription

I'm preparing for several upcoming events that involve air travel. In fact, I'm currently on a trip, visiting some old friends, and the last thing I want to worry about is dragging my heavy luggage from destination to destination. As part of my effort to pack lightly, I have already dedicated my Calpak Luka Soft-Sided Mini Carry-On Luggage for several trips in my calendar in the next few months.

As you can imagine, the mini carry-on bag has only so much room, so it all comes down to packing strategically. I typically plan out a different outfit every day, but with so little space this time around, I need to make the most out of a handful of pieces. So, I planned out six different outfit ideas using just these nine styles from Old Navy, Quince, and more.

Travel-Friendly Fashion Finds

Anrabess 2-Piece Wide-Leg Pants and Tank Set, $36 (was $45); amazon.com

A New Day Button-Front Cardigan, $35; target.com

Anrabess Linen-Blend Pants, $36; amazon.com

Automet Cap-Sleeve Tee, $13; amazon.com

Odoly Adjustable Buckle Sandals, $19 with coupon (was $24); amazon.com

Old Navy Sleeveless Button-Front Mini Dress, $35; oldnavy.com

Anrabess 2-Piece Wide-Leg Pants and Tank Set

A matching set is a travel-friendly essential because you can always take it apart to wear with other separates. I love a nice, cohesive look on its own, but you can't beat this cute tank with chino shorts or relaxed straight-leg jeans. I plan to pair the wide-leg pants with an adorable, tiered tank for another day as well.

A New Day Button-Front Cardigan

I often get cold, no matter where I am, so I like to carry a cardigan with me. This crocheted number will make a simple top feel like a base layer. This is one of my favorite pieces for unpredictable weather because it's incredibly chic while still keeping me warm when I need it. Additionally, it goes well with just about anything, whether it's a matching set or a little dress.

Anrabess Linen-Blend Pants

A neutral pair of linen pants is a must-have for the season. Not only are they lightweight and soft, but they also mesh well with a wide range of tops, including blouses, tanks, simple tees, button-downs, and more. I really like how the drawstring waistband cinches me in as well, and I plan to wear these well into fall.

Automet Cap-Sleeve Tee

I consider this minimalist cap-sleeve T-shirt a style staple. I'd certainly build an entire outfit around it because there are endless ways to wear it. My plan is to team this soft tee with my black chino shorts for one day and with my linen pants on another. But it would also work well with a cute wrap skirt.

Don't miss a few more of my favorite travel-friendly pieces below.

Odoly Adjustable Buckle Sandals

Old Navy Sleeveless Button-Front Mini Dress

Quince Organic Stretch Cotton Chino Shorts

Old Navy High-Waisted Faux-Wrap Linen-Blend Mini Skort

Lulus Tie-Strap Tiered Tank Top

A Modern Traditional Green Tiled Bathroom (With A Last Minute Sink Pivot)

Well, well, well…I do believe this is the last bathroom of my brother’s river house, and likely the one that gets seen the most by guests. I have an order of favorites, for sure, but this one seems to be the reigning #1 (I’m partial to the primary myself, but perhaps that’s because I’m middle-aged and love an at-home spa experience – I mean, they have a sauna inside the bathroom). This one has a punch and a pattern, and a lot of green (go Ducks!). Green tiled bathrooms for the win. We chose the tile back when Max and I were both working on this project, and that man also loves a big green tile moment. I mean who doesn’t love a good green tiled bathroom. We worked with Ann Sacks, which has extremely good colors and really solid tile. Max felt really strongly about this tile and wanted it staggered as a 4″ square. I wanted it stacked as a rectangle, and somewhere along the line, it ended up staggered as a rectangle. I honestly don’t remember who is responsible for what anymore! But it turned out so great, and it’s pretty beloved in the home. A Big Pivot… I do remember that at one point, Ken and Max chose this big double faucet-ed wall-hung farm sink from Kohler that I objectively love, but as the house came together, it started to feel like it didn’t belong here. Katie felt the same. So with conflicting design visions, we looked for other options. We had to make decisions quickly as the subs were working hard on all the bathrooms at the same time. So we played around with what we had on hand, which was a leftover wall-hung drawer vanity (seen above) that felt oddly big. But that’s when Gretchen has the idea of using our leftover tile to tile a smaller version of that wall-hung vanity. So JP and his crews built a box for an inset sink, with the vision to tile overtop of it, keeping the look of the wall tile and running the same way. We taped it out, making sure that it worked with the plumbing that was already behind the tiled wall, while also ensuring that it was the right scale for this bathroom. It was a risk, and a last-minute one on the bathroom that the most people would see and near the end of a long project… We ordered the faucet from Kohler, and I was so relieved that it turned out pretty darn great. Still unexpected in the house, but now that it’s fully decorated, the pattern of the wallpaper and the colorful tile work so well together. The pendants were bought from Schoolhouse Electric – modern yet traditional and on the affordable side. On Choosing The Wallpaper This bathroom is big for a powder bath and dark (no natural light), and just painting felt a bit dead, so once again I was tasked with finding a wallpaper that was organic and fluid so that it contrasted against the linear brick tile, but not too traditional like most florals. As you know, I’m a massive fan of the Raphael pattern for this exact reason – it has this beautiful movement without it being too busy or bold. The large scale of it works so well with smaller tiles, and the white grout pulled so well with the white background. It also felt very Oregon to me – what with the trees and such. Yes, we see it a lot these days, but I enjoy seeing it every single time. The variation in the tile color is so pretty (with many shaky edges – so make sure you are up for that look). It’s just such a deep, rich green with a lot of high gloss texture. Can’t forget the toilet :) There was enough room for a little side table, which I was on the fence about, but the gap was big, so we added it, and it looked cute. I went to my inventory of art and found that I had two more of these MaryAnn Puls pieces (I had bought and framed a bunch for my team holiday present years ago, and had a couple left over). They felt like a sweet moment in here and brought in that hit of warmth with the wood that was echoed with the stool and the wooden arch sculptures (which I bought on Amazon, last minute, LOL). She’s pretty dang cute and a fun punch for guests upon arrival. Actually, my whole family is coming over tonight to Ken’s for a BBQ to get a full updated tour now that it’s all decorated, which I’m super excited about. Last bathroom done!!! Don’t worry, we still have like 6 more rooms to reveal (I love them all SOOO MUCH), so stay tuned. The river house project is truly never-ending :)

My Brother’s Playful Shared Kids Bathroom Reveal (Including Cute Double Vanities)

While this house has a lot of contemporary lines (with hits of traditional vibes throughout), it’s still a house for a family with two elementary school-aged kids (6 and 9). They share a hall bathroom that is a nice size and Max and I were able to design it to be happy and playful, and yet use high-quality material that will last (and obviously grow with them). I honestly never pictured this bathroom like this – it’s really sweet and charming and full of layers that are far from “contemporary”. Some of this is in the styling, for sure, but whatever it is I love looking at these photos and every time I walk in I get that surge of, “Oh this is so fun”. Where Are We In The House? Ok, we are on the second floor and you can see the kid’s rooms are nearby. The bathroom is pretty big – although I see that the floor plan has changed since this above version to NOT have a separation between the vanity area and the toilet/bath. It’s part of the house that was designed to be vaulted so it has high ceilings. When they did the window plan they chose a huge window in here – so it has a lot of natural light. Three Different Tiles Max Humphrey and I chose the tile (we co-designed many of the bathrooms together), but this tile is more him, I’d say (and I love it). That guy is a master at selecting and mixing tiles. He generally takes more risks than me but still stays within a restrained palette which you all know I love. We worked within Ann Sacks Made line (made in Portland, which we are big fans of) which has a huge variety of colors. What I love so much about it is the variation of the color at the edges in both the penny tile on the floor and the shower tile – it gives it a lot of dimension and texture (the outline isn’t the grout, it’s the tile). I should back up and say that my brother and SIL didn’t want a tub in here – their kids take showers so they didn’t see the point of a tub (and thought it would be hard to get in and out of). But as an avid bather, I pushed back hard saying how bad for resale it would be not to have a tub for kids. So they chose the most shallow tub (one that would be easy for the kids to get in and out of as a compromise. At times I feared that it would look too basic and not special enough, but as we built the rest of the design elements now I hardly notice that it’s just an alcove tub. The shower surround that we customized (with much agony, more on that later) really helps it feel more elevated. Also a huge shout out to Anne Usher, the architect who planned the skylight in here – the light that it brings into the shower is incredible and makes this area of the room come alive. We used a leftover Caesarstone slab for the niche (making it as big as possible to be in scale with the shower wall). The tray and little pot are from a local resin maker, Swift and Stone who I found at a market and immediately reached out to for this bathroom (you can see her work on the vanities as well). Mixing Tiles We mixed three different scales – the larger blue vanity wall, the medium shower tile and the small penny on the floor. The tones of them all looked really cohesive together and it feels highly customized and yet really cohesive. Purist Faucet Line FTW Always and forever I love the Purist line from Kohler. Of course, you have a variety of finishes (we chose vibrant brushed moderne brass) and different handle profiles (we chose the cross for this bathroom). It’s just simple, modern, streamlined, and timeless. We have this line all over the mountain house. It feels more contemporary there and here it leans more transitional – it’s really easy to mix in most styles, IMHO. The toilet is tucked on the other side of the vanities. We hung embroidery art from the OG Portland project by local artist Annie Odorisio and then styled the opposite wall with robe/towel hooks and a cute wicker hamper to warm it all up. You’ll see in here a circle motif everywhere, which I think really helped it feel more playful and fun for kids. Alright – a his and hers vanity that I seriously wish we had for our kids (who share and quibble and it’s a thing). These are two Tresham vanities that have a simple (and even shaker) vibe to them and then we made them more modern with the wood handles (from Etsy). If you are wondering why they are so close, we did too. In the plans, they were 18″ apart but the room just didn’t allow it so somewhere something was off. At first, I was like “uhhhh…” and then we just worked with it and now I barely notice that they are so close and I even think it’s really sweet. They both have their own storage and counters. With the more traditional tilework and vanities, I wanted to finish the room in a way that went more modern and contemporary like the rest of the house. So once I found these sconces from Worley’s I showed them to my SIL and we both were like, “these are them.” I love that they are graphic, with these playful round glass shades (which also provide great soft light), and you can choose from a variety of metals and wood tones (we chose brushed brass to match the faucets and cornsilk oak for the wood). The three of them flanking the pill shaped mirrors. I like how they call back to the penny tile, the shower faucet shape, the rug, and even the bench. The backsplash tile goes from floor to ceiling (although it originally didn’t – it stopped at 7′ which felt weird so we had to order more tile and cross our fingers the color would match perfectly). The pattern and color make this room come alive – it’s a pattern mixed with three different tiles, stacked in a repeat (this is a Max Humphrey move that I am into). The Tresham vanities also come with an integrated countertop and sink, making it a really easy one-and-done situation. I have this vanity in our mountain house guest room and love the joinery of the base. It comes in a couple of different sizes (I wish it came in 60″ or 72″ TBH – I think it’s awesome.) If you are opening up the walls and changing plumbing (or in this case, building a new house basically) definitely think about wall mount faucets. They really do free up space and I think give a more custom look (we didn’t do this in every bathroom – I like to mix it up). The room is pretty wide in a great way and we were able to add something opposite the vanities. The pocket door was custom (and white oak) and I hung a piece of art that I’ve had forever that worked perfectly in here. I continued with the circle/scallop motif with the rug (from Etsy), wicker pot (from The Container Store, can also be a cute trash can) and bench (from AllModern). We bought a lot of these resin (not pottery, which is nice for kids) bathroom accessories from Swift and Stone which she makes in a variety of colors and sells both locally and on Etsy. Top Down Bottom Up Window Treatments Opposite the vanity is this large window with black frames and while I’m so grateful for the natural light, these kids needed some privacy. So we had Decorview make the same shades that we have in our guest room that I love. They are modern Roman shades that as you can see can be used from the top down or bottom up (therefore letting nice light in through the top). It turned out to be far more of a mix of modern/traditional than I had predicted 3+ years ago, in such a good way. It’s really spacious, airy and bright with playful elements, but executed so well by a great team.

Petunia Leaves Turning Yellow? You Should Check This First, a Gardener Says

Petunias, known for their vibrant blooms, are one of the easiest flowers to care for and grow in your outdoor flower bed. While they're very forgiving with their care needs, there are some instances when you might start to notice the green leaves turning an unsightly shade of yellow. When this starts to happen, it's important to identify the problem immediately so you can nurture your petunias back to health. Here are the top six reasons that causes yellow petunia leaves, according to an expert, and how to fix each cause. Meet the Expert Ondrea Kidd is the lead floral designer and founder of Sowing Joy Farm in Post Falls, ID. Nutrient Deficiency Once you've planted your petunias, watered them enough, and see that the plant has become established, the work doesn't stop there. Without ensuring your petunias have consistent nutrients, you might start to see yellowing leaves. "After the initial planting, it is important to give your petunias regular feedings every two to three weeks," Ondrea Kidd, lead floral designer and founder of Sowing Joy Farm, says. "I suggest a natural fertilizer such as Neptune’s Harvest and a top dressing of worm castings. These natural fertilizers amend your soil without causing any burning." She also says that you will be able to tell that a lack of nutrients is the leading cause for yellowing leaves if there's no dryness or dampness to the soil. "A good feeding followed by regular subsequent feeds will fix this problem," she adds. "You will want to remove any unsightly leaves to allow the nutrients to go to new growth and roots." Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more! Overwatering Of course, water plays a huge part in whether or not you start to notice yellowing leaves on your petunias. One of the ways water can lead to this leaf color is from overwatering. "Petunias love predictable watering schedules but like to dry out a bit in between waterings," Kidd says. "The main symptoms of overwatering with petunias are soggy or mushy yellowing leaves lower on the plant." She also says you may see root rot and very damp and soggy soil as other potential symptoms of an overwatered petunia. The good news is that she says this problem is an easy fix that your plant can bounce back from! "Allow the top inch or so to dry out in between waterings," Kidd says. " How fast it dries out will depend on your environment, so check the soil often." Under-watering While overwatering is a common cause for yellowing petunia leaves, so is under-watering. "If your petunia leaves are drying and becoming crispy and your soil is dry, it’s a good bet that the reason is under-watering," Kidd says. "You want the top layer of your soil to dry between waterings, but not to the point where you have more than an inch or so that is very dry." Kidd says under-watering is also an easy fix, like overwatering. "Simply remove all dried-out leaves, give the petunias a good soak to desaturate the soil, and then monitor the dryness of the soil and water as needed." If you live in an area that's prone to dry heat, wind, and very high temperatures, Kidd suggests watering the plant daily in the evenings so that the plant has time to really soak up the water. Pests & Diseases Like most plants, petunias are susceptible to the occasional pest and disease invasion from time to time. This is also a common cause for yellowing leaves that Kidd says is important to catch in the early stages. "The most common pest that likes to invade petunias is aphids," Kidd shares. "Inspect your plants frequently for signs of pests, and at the first sign of aphid infestation, I suggest a water treatment that will cause the aphids to fall right off." For diseases, Kidd says petunias are most likely to contract the Tobacco Mosaic virus, which, sadly, doesn't have a cure. Lack of Sunlight Petunias grow best in an area that allows them to get at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight. Without this, you could start to see yellow leaves on your plant. "To fix this problem, move your petunias to a sunny spot or remove any overhanging foliage of other plants that may be causing the shadiness." The good news is that Kidd says petunias are easy to move and are very forgiving when having to move to another location. "If you need to move them from the ground, dig around the bae with a spade to make sure you are getting all the roots and replace them in a sunny area with a similar-sized hole," she says. Age Lastly, the age of your petunia plant can play a factor in yellow leaves. Kidd says this is very common since the plant will yellow and dry up the older the plant gets. "To prolong the life and season of your petunia and keep it looking its best, deadhead all spent and wilting blooms," Kidd says. "By not letting your bloom go to seed, it will keep the petunia thinking it needs to continue blooming."

I’m 5’1", and I Curated a Wrinkle-Free Wardrobe for Petite Travelers, Up to 60% Off

While living in New York City is fun, I love a good weekend getaway during the spring and summer months. And now that the weather is finally getting warmer, I’m taking my trip-planning more seriously. This preparation includes having enough travel-ready outfits that won’t wrinkle in my suitcase and that I can repeat-wear to pack lightly. As someone who’s 5’1” and curvy, I’m very intentional about my hunt for new clothing. I need to make sure that my picks offer a flattering fit and are comfortable, too. That’s why I was thrilled to find tons of petite-friendly travel styles at Nordstrom, which also happen to be wrinkle-free and ideal for my getaways. Shop my picks from Vuori, Spanx, Madewell, and more below, with savings up to 60 percent. Petite Spring Travel Outfits at Nordstrom Caslon Drawstring Wide-Leg Linen Blend Pants, $45 (was $60) Lands’ End Lightweight Jersey Side Tie Blouse, $48 Foxcroft Taylor Non-Iron Sleeveless Shirt, $88 Pact on the Go-To Crop Tank, $34 Treasure & Bond Shirred Lace Top, From $24 (was $60) Madewell The Petite Darted Barrel Leg Jeans, $138 CeCe Tiered Ruffle Minidress, $89 Halogen Essential Compression T-Shirt, From $16 (was $35) Vuori One Shot Tennis Dress, $98 Wash Lab Denim Crop Cord Jacket, $104 (was $148) Spanx AirEssentials Wide-Leg Pants, From $72 (was $110) Vince Camuto Convertible Double Breasted Twill Jacket, $80 (was $149) Caslon Drawstring Wide-Leg Linen Blend Pants These flowy wide-leg pants are made from a linen and rayon blend and have a comfy elastic waistband, which is ideal for when I have to sit for hours on a train. They’re on sale in all four neutral colors, including flax, striped navy, and black. One 5’2” shopper said they’re “perfect in length for petites,” noting that they’re a “staple piece” for hot and humid weather thanks to the breezy, “loose, and comfy” design. Pact on the Go-To Crop Tank This contouring bra tank is made from a stretchy organic cotton and elastane material that makes it an ideal base layer for my upcoming travels. I can easily wear it alone or with a light jacket and dress it up or down depending on the day’s events. It's “very soft and comfortable,” according to one customer, while another person called it “movable and breathable.” Vuori One Shot Tennis Dress I’m a fan of Vuori’s clothing, so I was excited to find this tennis dress in five spring-ready colors. It comes with built-in interior shorts that will make it more practical for days spent exploring different cities, and its pull-on style makes it easy to take on and off. The dress is “so soft,” per one reviewer who noted that they wear it casually, for dates, and nights out. They added that they have a 36D bra size and the “shelf bra is supportive.” Madewell The Petite Darted Barrel-Leg Jeans I’ve been coveting barrel jeans for awhile, so I’m grabbing this light wash pair from Madewell. They’re made with 100 percent cotton, have five pockets, and are machine washable. I love the jeans’ curved fit for my body type without being overly baggy thanks to its petite-friendly sizing. Shoppers love them, too, including one who is 5’1” and shared that they “fit great” around their hips. They’re super packable and versatile, so I can wear them practically anywhere. Discover more of Nordstrom’s petite-friendly travel outfits below, with savings up to 60 percent. Treasure & Bond Shirred Lace Top CeCe Tiered Ruffle Minidress Wash Lab Denim Crop Cord Jacket Spanx AirEssentials Wide-Leg Pants Vince Camuto Convertible Double Breasted Twill Jacket