Last week, as I was working on my blog, I realized that I wasn’t really happy with the way it looked. I know, I know, I just changed its look relatively recently (maybe six months ago or so?), but I’m a perfectionist and there were things about it that were rubbing me the wrong way. It was too dark, and it looked like it weighed a ton. It was kind of depressing, in a sense. So I started looking for a lighter background; I wanted something textured, something bookish, maybe something paper-ish. I was obviously looking in all the wrong places, because I couldn’t find anything I liked.
I was also unhappy with the way the widgets looked. I was starting to become annoyed with their separateness, if you will. I thought they looked messy and distracting. I was actually thinking of setting up a whole new theme, which would have taken a lot of time (because of my already mentioned perfectionism).
The header. I wanted a new header. Something that I would be happy with for a long time. Something that I could call mine that I felt really represented my blog. The header that my husband put together for the old look was wonderful. I loved it. But again, it started to look heavy and I felt it was too big and too dark.
I mentioned all of this on Twitter, and asked for advice from someone whose design skills I really respect. We chatted about it, and she made me realize that I really just needed to lighten the whole thing up (which was my original thought). She found me the awesome background I’m now using, AND she designed the image you now see in the header, which I LOVE. (I tweaked it a little, but she did all of the hard work.) I couldn’t be happier with our results.
So I would just like to give @grngeekgirl of Insatiable Booksluts a public ‘thank you’ for making me love the look of my blog again. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are truly wonderful for putting up with my perfectionism…and the million questions I asked…and my lack of design skills…and my ignorance when it comes to finding certain things on the internet. You rock.
April 29, 2012 at 11:44 am
It looks fantastic!
April 29, 2012 at 11:53 am
Thank you!
April 29, 2012 at 11:52 am
Yay! I’m just so happy I could find things for you. I know it’s frustrating when you want something, and you know other people have it, but you can’t find it :\
April 29, 2012 at 11:55 am
I just get frustrated in general with things like this. You kept me from getting stabby. Three cheers for you! Hip, hip, HOORAY!
April 29, 2012 at 11:58 am
Love the new look. especially the textured background.
April 29, 2012 at 11:59 am
Thanks!
April 29, 2012 at 12:52 pm
It looks really great, Heather! LOVE the header!
April 29, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Thank you, Michelle!
April 29, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Yea! It looks fantastic. The feeling that the blog was too heavy/dark was exactly why I changed my blog up last month. Couldn’t take it anymore!
April 29, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Yep. It can actually start to *feel* weighted down. Thank you!
April 29, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Before I even read this post, I thought — “Hey! Heather’s blog looks brighter.” I love the header — it’s beautiful and really captures your theme. I also really like the background and the way it makes everything else pop off the page. I envy the layout of your widgets, and now I am inspired to go tinker with my blog again. I have that little perfectionism bug myself…
April 29, 2012 at 6:21 pm
I do believe we are kindred souls when it comes to the organization/perfectionism bug. Thank you for stopping by and checking it out, and thank you for the compliments!
April 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
Very nice! I kind of want to steal your background – but I kind of like the chaos of mine
April 29, 2012 at 6:18 pm
I love the header on your blog. It suits you. Thank you for stopping by and checking my new look out!
April 29, 2012 at 6:40 pm
Heather, your blog looks fantastic! I love the textured look.
April 29, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Thank you, Vasilly!
April 29, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Eish! New look, new image. This is great, Heather. I agree, this new look is more lighter.
April 29, 2012 at 11:27 pm
Thank you for stopping by to check it out!
April 30, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Love it!! A job well done.
April 30, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Thank you, Sarah!
May 2, 2012 at 9:12 am
It looks wonderful!
May 2, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Thank you, Melissa!