A new virtual home

I've been debating moving my blog for a while. I started Neroli Blossoms back in 2009 when I originally kicked off my online boutique, but I kept the blog even after I shut down the store. I love having this blog as an online journal and reference of my life over the past seven (seven!) years. Lately I've been feeling that I've just outgrown it. I haven't been posting regularly over the past year because it was hard to get excited about it. The blog just didn't feel right anymore. It's like a favorite sweater that you outgrow and carefully tuck away in your closet because of all the great memories it contains. You might take it out and look at it for a bit, but then it goes back in the closet and you go back to real life.

So that's where we are today, this blog just doesn't fit anymore. However, I've really missed sharing tutorials, crafts, recipes, and decorating inspiration so I want to introduce you to my new virtual home, www.farbluemountains.com:

I even bought a real domain name! I'm official!

I want this new blog to focus more on creating things. Eat. Make. Decorate. A place to share ways to be creative with others. Expect recipes (including some of my favorites from here that I'm in the process of moving over), diy tutorials, and updates on our new house renovation. I felt like this blog lost it's focus at the end and I'd like to get back to consistency.

I'm still leaving all the posts up here, but I won't be updating any more. Come visit me at my new virtual home - I can't wait to see you there!

Master bedroom update - floors and walls

We've finally been able to move back into the master bedroom! The flooring has been installed and the walls are painted. We have a ways to go before this room is finished, but at least we're not camping out in the guest bedroom surrounded by unpacked boxes anymore. The change has been like night and day for this room. What started out as a stuffy, cave like master bedroom now feels open and cool (as opposed to outside where it's 110 degrees). We still need to hang curtains since the sun shines right in that window at 5 am, as well as installing baseboards. But overall, I'm loving how this room is coming along! 

Take a look at what we started with when we moved in:

This room was absolutely filthy when we moved in. The 2 other bedrooms have carpeting and when we got those cleaned, the carpet cleaners took one look at the master and basically said "yeah, we're not even going to clean this, you need to rip it out". Which was fine by me! We decided to go with laminate flooring instead of wood since we have a large dog and the laminate should hold up better and not get scratched like wood floors. We also had to clean all the walls as they were covered with dog hair and dust. 

Getting the floors installed was a process and a half. We really weren't happy with the customer service of company we went with, but the floors look amazing now that they're done and the quality is great. They look and feel pretty close to real wood. We still need to install the baseboards, but I'm just so happy to actually have my room and closet back! 

We also changed the walls from the dark green cavelike atmosphere to Benjamin Moore's White Dove to open up the room a bit. It's crazy what a little paint and new flooring can do for a room! I'm just proud that we actually did something with the master bedroom. In our last place, we hated how the room looked but never bothered to change anything about it. I'm discovering how nice it is to come home after work to a place where you feel really comfortable and happy. Next steps - decorating! 

Home before tour: our 1970s ranch

I realize that it's been a little bit since I posted. Let me catch you up a bit. Kace and I sold our house north of Phoenix and moved south into the city. He started a new job in south Scottsdale back in October and the commute was brutal. Eventually we had enough and realized we weren't quite ready for the suburbs. 

After some frantic scrambling and looking for houses after we sold ours, we ended up in a wonderful older Phoenix neighborhood in a 70s ranch. It had been updated in the early 2000s and while it needed a bit more care, it has a ton of potential to be the exact kind of house were were looking for. The house has a fairly open concept, which I really like. Our last house was very segmented, and I love how everything flows here. The previous owner was a single, middle aged man who's style was very different from ours, but we loved the bones of the house. I can't wait to start working on it!

Sorry for the quality of some of the photos. A lot of these were quickly snapped as we walked through the house to buy it and they're the only true "before" photos that we have since I started painting pretty much the instant we had the keys.

I loved the etched glass front door, but the bright red entryway and yellow living room were a bit much. This was the house when we saw it for the first time. 

The living room is long and skinny, which will make for some interesting furniture arranging. The yellow paint doesn't look that bad here, but the paint in the entire house was in such rough shape that it needed a new coat, and the room looks so much cleaner white. It also didn't go with all the red and blue on the other walls.  

This picture was taken from the wall in the previous picture where the owner had the tv mounting. The living room opens up into the dining room behind it. The cut out wall on the right side of the photo is the kitchen. I wish I had a good picture of what this looked like before we moved in. There was a giant pool table and a kegerator sitting there. You can't really tell from these photos, but the walls are light blue. Again, the color wasn't bad but they were scuffed so bad that they needed to be painted. 

The dining area opens up into a sunroom and the kitchen. We lived half unpacked like this for much longer than I wanted due to delays in reflooring the master bedroom. Well, actually it still looks like this. Baby steps people, baby steps. 

The sunroom. 

The house has a galley kitchen, which isn't something I would have picked out for myself, but I'm absolutely loving it. Also, those windows open up to the patio outside and were a huge selling point of the house! Along with the built in wine refrigerator. (Not even joking...is that bad?) 

This is the master bedroom. It's really dark, the carpets were disgusting (I don't even want to know what all the brown spots were), and that fan is way too large for the room. We're in the midst of redoing the floors, painting, and updating to freshen everything up a bit. 

Lastly we have the guest bathroom, which I sort of love. It's outdated and has this crazy mosaic countertop, but it's kind of retro and I have no problem with leaving it for now to work on other aspects of the house. I love that built in vanity! It's also huge for a guest bathroom, which is good because we've been using it while the master bedroom has been out of commission. 

There are also 2 guest bedrooms and the master bathroom, but those are all buried under mounds of furniture and boxes that we haven't been able to unpack yet. Once those get cleaned up to a somewhat presentable state, I'll share those. But don't get too excited, they're just basic guest rooms with 4 walls and a window and closet :-)

eShakti Shirt Review

When eShakti contacted me and asked if I wanted to review one of their items, I was thrilled! I've seen their reviews from other bloggers and the idea of complete customization is very appealing. If you've never heard of them, eShakti is an Indian company that offers vintage and retro inspired clothing with the ability for you to customize the neckline, sleeves, length, pockets, and embroidery or other details. They offer mostly cotton skirts, dress, and tops that are completely made to order. You have the option to select a size or you can put in your own measurements and have the garment tailored completely to your specifications - which is what I did. 

The customization process was actually really simple. They have guides for all the measurements so if you're not an avid sewer who is familiar with using a tape measure to take your own measurement you'll know what they're asking for. Once you have the basic measurements in, you can select if you want sleeves, change the neckline, and decide on the length of the shirt (or dress if you would choose one). 

I decided to go with a button down shirt since those are always really hard for me to find. I'm short but have a long torso and some curves so I usually end up with the dreaded chest gap between the buttons. Not a good look. 

It took about 2 weeks once I placed the order to receive my shirt. Since the shirt is coming from India and is custom that seemed like an acceptable amount of time to wait. And the fit? No chest gap! Whoo! I was a little nervous about the fit since I've never actually had anything custom fit before, but it fit like a glove. The only thing that wasn't perfect was that it was a little long, but I think that was my own fault since there were 3 length options to choose from. 

Overall, I was really pleased with the shirt and would order from them again. If you'd like to check them out, they're offering a 10% discount for Neroli Blossoms readers, enter "neroliblossoms" in the promotional code box. Offer is good until 10/22/14.  And you can check them out on facebook, Pinterest, and twitter for updates for their current special offers. 

I received the above shirt in exchange for an honest review of the product. No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.  

A Little DIY Duvet Love

Here's something fun - my DIY Anthropologie inspired duvet tutorial is on Mashable along with other adorable Anthro crafts. Check out their 15 Clever DIY Anthropologie Hacks for Your Home!