Exactly one year ago today, WondermomWannabe.com went live and I posted my very first blog post. After a year of hard work, meeting great friends, learning new things, and enjoying small successes, I’m even more motivated and excited about this site than I was 12 months ago.
Changed My Website Design
Now that I know this is what I really want to do, you’ll notice some changes. First and foremost, I decided to invest some of the money I’ve been making into the design of my site. For the past year, I have been using one of the free themes available from WordPress. While I was thankful that there were so many themes from which to choose, I wanted a look that captured the essence of what I want the site to represent. I really wanted Wondermom Wannabe to be front and center since she is the visual representation of how I envision all of you–a superhero mom juggling lots of jobs. I also wanted something cheerful, clean, and easy to navigate.
Neapolitan Designs
A couple of my blogging friends had their sites redesigned and I loved their results. I found out that Neapolitan Designs handled the redesign of both their sites so I knew right away who I’d be hiring.
I knew from seeing the other sites that I would love the end result, what I wasn’t prepared for was the amazing talent the designer would have to translate my words into a design. I didn’t have a clear picture in my head of what I wanted the site to look like and yet, the designer I worked with asked me just the right questions to be able to create exactly what I wanted. At times she would give me two options and I would like one better visually and the other functionally and she would find a way to give me both! I don’t think I am underselling her when I refer to her as a genius.
Even better, I still have the next month to work through minor tweaks. It was such a relief to know that if I discover something after working with the theme for a few days, I’m not left on my own to figure out how to fix it. Most bloggers eventually pick up some of these skills, but doing so takes time from other tasks so it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about. So you might notice a few minor changes over the new few weeks as I work to make this a fun and welcoming site for you to explore, but I hope you enjoy the new layout.
If you are a blogger looking for a personalized theme, Neapolitan Designs is my recommendation.
Here’s what my old design looked like:
What do you think? Do you like the new design better? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Congrats on the one year mark!! I LOVE the new design and think it is much fresher and lighter looking. I will have to look into your designer, because I hate my design right now (another free theme for wordpress). But, I really don’t know exactly what I would want it to be! Anyways, way better, and much more user friendly.
Happy Bloggoversary!! I’m glad you found a designer you love!
I feel like I have been following you longer than a year, love your blog! Happy anniversary, I love the new look and the fact that you are not left hanging when your designer is finished is great.
Lucky you! Happy Birthday! Time flies and you get to accomplish a lot when you’re having fun and doing something you love.
Happy Blogday. 🙂
I love the new look. Nice colours, very easy to navigate…cute design. The header is my favourite. 🙂
Happy Blogday. 🙂
I love the new look. Nice colours, very easy to navigate…cute design. The header is my favourite. 🙂
I love your new design. I am thinking about changing the them on my site but haven’t found exactly what I am looking for yet.
I think your new design is very cute. 🙂 What a nice way to start off your second year of blogging! I don’t use WordPress, but I am still going to check out your designer. Sounds like she does very good work. (And looks like it too.) Happy Blogversity! 🙂
Happy happy birthday! You’ve accomplished much in just one year. The new design is perfect for you and Wondermom Wannabe. It’s fresh, clean and fun. Have a cupcake in celebration for me.
They say it’s your birthday… dananananana…. it’s my birthday too yeah…. (ok not really – but I love the Beatles song!!!) Corinne I wish you a very happy wonderful #1 birthday and wish you many, many years of future success. I’ve really enjoyed working with you over the months and getting to know you and your sweet spirit. Oh and the new design…. ROCKS! Love and hugs, Holly
Happy Birthday Wondermom! What a big and wonderful change! I just love the new look!!! I love Samantha too!! Good luck on your next year! I know you will do great and I am so happy to know you!
Thank you. I’m so glad you and Susan (http://organized31.com) recommended her. You were right–I wasn’t disappointed. Just one more way you have helped me this year. 🙂 Looking forward to more fun times and learning new things together this year!
WOW!!! I LOVE the new site!!! I have a lot of changes I need to be making in the near future to my blog, too – thank you for the recommendation!
I’m glad you like it! I was really happy with the result. If you do get a redesign, Neapolitan Designs really is a good choice. Very affordable for the amount of work they do too. Loved your article for today, by the way. I shared the pic on Facebook because it so perfectly describes my feelings about doing taxes.
I do like the new site layout and look-of course I did like your old one as well! This person did a marvelous job and I really like that she will be there for you for a month at least–it can take that long if not longer to tweak everything! Congratulations on your 1 yr blogerversary!!