My Home Decor Blogging Resources
This little home decor blog has had quite the journey! There’s been a lot trial and error (a lot of errors, if I’m honest) plus a very steep learning curve. But, ultmately I’m so proud of what I created in efforts of inspiring others in their home decor journey. Over the years, I’ve gathered up effective blogging resources that have completely transformed how I share my ideas. Some of you are interested in creating a home decor blog (or, perhaps you’ve taken then plunge!) so I’m sharing all my strategies and apps I use here.
From the beginning, I hoped this space would become a creative outlet and a space to share my home decor journey. I remember getting the boys settled in school and saying to myself, I really want to do this. So, I hunkered down, rolled up my sleeves and got started creating this blog.
There are tons of posts out there with step by step details on how to start a blog. I don’t want to recreate the wheel, but DO want to share the blogging resources for my this site that work for me.
1. Email Platform: Convertkit
Over the course of my home decor blogging journey, my newsletter has become one of my most important elements. It struggled and lagged at first as I tried out a few different platforms.
However, once I found Convertkit, big things started happening. As an email marketing platform designed for creators, it felt at home to me right away.
I now send weekly home decor tips out to thousands of subscribers. Additionally, it allows me to set up beautiful sequences, opt in forms, offer digital products, and build a newsletter creator page.
Just like any platform, there are a few tiny details I’d like to change, but overall, I’d recommend Convertkit in a heartbeat.
2. Wordpress Theme
Ok, this is where I admit to you that I sort of bungled things at the beginning years ago. I tried a variety of themes from different developers. I focused only on how easy it was and what it looked like.
Ugh. Doing this just made a mess of things. I had NO IDEA how crucial a theme was to user experience, search results, and overall site functionality. The themes I purchased were clunky and harder to use then they should’ve been. I never even shared them as a resource because I just couldn’t recommend them to others!
And then, I found Restored 316! I researched the hell out of themes and options and spent months debating whether to make the switch. I ultimately landed on their Rosemary Theme (the example shows food, but it works with so many other blog topics!).
After making the change from Genesis to Kadence with Restored 316, I immediately felt a sense of relief and excitement. My site *finally* felt like what I always hoped it could be.
It’s easier to navigate with so many search options like topics, menus, tabs, etc. Check out the layout of my home page for an idea – an I built this on my own with this theme!
Not only are the folks at Restored 316 there SUPER friendly and helpful, they’re also really knowledgable. I found the documentation easy to follow (and when I got stuck, my questions were answered immediately. I cannot imagine ever making another switch after finding Restored 316 themes.
3. Home Decor Stock Images
Ok, now what do we fill this home decor site with? Well, I do take many of my own photos. But, there are times when I need a pretty photo to create my graphics and site sections. The stock image site, Elevae, has quickly become one of my most essential blogging resources.
I’ve tried lots of options, including Unsplash which has high quality, free stock images.
To take it to the next level though, I use Elevae Visuals. They offer stunning, unique, and authentic stock photos – perfect for my home styling site.
They do have a monthly fee but the time it saves me along with the level of professionalism it brings to my images makes it completely worth it.
4.Blogging Courses
For awhile there, I THOUGHT I had this all figured out. Then I came up Eb Garbano’s Productive Blogging courses and holy smokes, these blew my mind. I’ve taken four of them and they have all taken my site to the next level. Here are two of my extra favorite courses (but they’re all good!):
SEO Blogging Course
In her SEO Jumpstart Course, she managed to take a very boring and complicated topic and made it so easy and clear to implement. I know SEO (search engine optimization) sounds boring and probably not the main reason you’re starting a blog site. But hear me out.
Basically, SEO is how people will find your blog. (There’s more to it, but in a nutshell that’s it). Without good SEO no one will find you.
After taking this course, I saw results almost instantly and have seen marked improvements ever since. (Actually, I keep hitting search milestones month after month!) Without a doubt, this SEO course is one of the VERY BEST investments I’ve made towards blogging professionally.
Email Marketing Course
If you had told me even just last year that email marketing would be a favorite aspect of blogging for me, I would have said you’re mistaken. Emails felt yukky and tiresome and I never knew what to write.
And then. Whooo boy. Taking this Email Marketing Course (and subsequently switching to Convertkit, see above), my whole newlsetter game just went to the next level.
It is now one of my most rewarding and successful methods of engaging with readers. Eb’s online class, Email Marketing Course, showed me everything from set up (gotta get this right!) to creating sequences, and all the little details that make a hug impact. This class was so good I literally spent one whole weekend going through it start to finish. I just couldn’t stop.
Be willing to be a beginner every single morning
Meister Eckhart
4. Blog Hosting Service
Hosting is one of those critical blogging resources that can easily be overlooked. I know I didn’t put much thought into it at first. Some of you may know me from my sewing days. Previously, I used a free hosting site for that blog. It was clunky and glitchy with little room for customization.
This time around I opted for self-hosting. This provides a lot more options and control. After a lot of research, I went with Bluehost for their hosting services.
A few years down the road an I switched to Big Scoots. Why change hosting providers? Well, this site wasn’t really performing well on the speed test among a few other issues. Admittedly, I was fully convinced after seeing a few recommendation from website experts who I absolutely trust.
Despite the funny name, my switch to BigScoots has been super easy and I saw some site improvement immediately. Their customer service is mind-blowingly fast ( I mean, it’s like there just waiting for my basic questions to roll in…).
Honestly, they have helped with so much behind the scenes including theme changes, diagnosing a few plug in issues, and helping with a domain problem. Made my life so much easier!
There you have it, my list of favorite blogging resources to save time and create content! I’ll add to this list when I discover new apps and tools.
