Amazing transformations; How I went from ugly to exciting pages.
Do you sometimes feel like your blog is a little bit generic? I have used the very basic WordPress theme for this site so it would load quickly. But with that comes that it doesn’t look very exciting. My biggest problem was with some if the pages that I just didn’t like at all.
This past week I have been working very hard to make my blog fit my personal style while making it look better. One of my goals was to update old HTML pages to something more lively and exciting.
Goals
My goals for the pages I am working on.
- I want it to look better than before
- I want it to include more images and even illustrations
- I want it to be more interactive
Basic make over;
These are the things that I did over the entire blog;
The first thing I did was changing the base colours which already made it so much more beautiful! I went from a very harsh black and blue to this. I really love the brown that I incorporated.
I updated part of the side bar with pictures I made in Canva. The came the really big projects.
Tools used for this make over;
- Symple Shortcodes plugin
- Lots of HTML & CSS
- Canva
Start page
I think this might have been my first HTML project ever. Now looking back after changing my theme I think this looks a little bit ugly. So I decided to update it to something with a little bit of flair.
Before
I like buttons and I like lists so I combined both. This was where the plugin really helped.
After
About page
Horribly outdated and not very interesting. Plus I don’t think I want to see my face that big.
Before
My biggest goal for this page was making it more interesting. I tried to incorporate a lot of illustrations since that is what I want to be known for. I might still change the header but I think that overall this page has gone through a big improvement
After
Contact page
This page looked cluttered and te contact form was actually broken. (that is just bad) So I cleaned it up and moved some of the links to the sidebar.
Before
The end result is sweet and simple. I never thought I would like a contact page this much.
After
I would love to here what you think!
I hope this proves to you that you can do a lot of design for yourself! You only need a little code, maybe a plugin and a image design program of choice and you can make the most gorgeous things. If you are not happy with your blog you can improve it!
I know blog design can look scary or overwhelming but when you are done it will feel so much better.
My question for you is; have you ever done a make over for your blog? Which parts did you find the hardest?
Previous Post
Next Post
Great job on all of your hard work. This is on my to do list this summer while I am on vacation. I am also looking to transfer my blog from Blogger to WordPress and I am a nervous mess about that. Props to you for figuring out HTML!
Thank you so much Mayra! And good luck in advance! I tranfered my blog from wordpress.com to .org and the hardest part was actually not moving the blog but moving the domain! But I am sure that a good host will be able to help you with it all. Thank you for reading!
Wow, the after pages look amazing! Good for you for knowing the code to change all that. Your hard work paid off.
Thank you Marissa. It is good to hear so after sweating over them for some while! ~ Sofie
Wow! Your blog looks awesome! Keep up the great work!
Thank you Helen! ~ Sofie
Great changes! Love how everything looks – so inspiring!
Thank you Chrissy!
That’s great that you were able to figure out and change the code yourself. Many think that it’s too big of a job to figure out… that’s totally me with figuring on how to make my site load faster… Lol
I really do love the after shots. You worked hard and the pages really pop and make it pleasing to the eye. Love Canva.
Thank so much Chel! It was quite nerve wrecking to dig in some codes but I am glad that it turned out so good. (Btw, If you have a WordPress site, I wrote a post about that earlier. It is 100% without coding, I promise ;)) I am really glad you like it and thank you for reading!
I’ve been looking at adding some extra elements to my blog as it needs a touch up, so these gave me a few wonderful ideas to try my hand at!
I am very glad it brought you inspiration! I am excited to see what you will do with it! ~ Sofie
Great changes! I am a visual person and love the new look!
That is great to hear. I really worked on making it more interesting so it is great to hear that that worked! Thank you Jessica!
Great job and I am in the process of trying to make my website faster but still look exciting. I’ve picked up some handy tips thank you and yes I really like your colour scheme. #BloggersPitStop
Thank you so much! The colours make me feel so much happier now`. I am glad this was helpful and I wish you a lot of success!
~ Sofie
Hi Sofie!
Great to see you here at Blogger’s Pit Stop. A blog makeover! Great idea!
Thanks for bringing your post to Blogger’s Pit Stop.
Janice, Pit Stop Crew
Hi, Janice! Thank you for the nice words and hosting such an amazing opportunity! ~ Sofie