new shoes, new blog

Impression: girlboss dressed for business with a months-in-the-making-rebrand and really good shoes

Reality: (wannabe) girlboss wearing a jacket that caught her eye in a charity shop that morning, with a ‘Need. Change. Now.’ redesign, and really good shoes.

So yes, new shoes and a new blog! The blog because I felt like Joli House was in need of a facelift, and the shoes because… a girl can never have too many shoes.  Even of the blue suede variety.  Jazz up an otherwise boring outfit, right?  For a gal like me who lives in white shirts, a (cliché warning) pop of colour is always welcome.  How long my clumsy self will be able to keep them pristine for is another matter, but I’ll try my best.  I should add ‘new jacket’ to the list too – always handy when you spot an item that goes perfectly with the outfit you’re already wearing!  Even better when it’s from a charity shop but is 100% on trend for this year.  Would only be so long before I succumbed to the gingham.

As for the blog revamp, I’d felt bored of my old theme for a while and decided to just bite the bullet and switch it up.  Sometimes you just need a change, you know?  The new Joli House isn’t too dissimilar to its predecessor, but is hopefully slicker, easier to navigate, and a hell of a lot nicer looking on mobile, too.

My blogging niche could be described as ‘girl who likes travel, handmade clothes, and maths in equal measures, rambles about life, and throws some fitness in there sometimes too‘, but I don’t think there’s a category for that.  Let me know if you do fall under that umbrella though,  I want to meet you!  Writing about a bunch of topics is part of what I like about blogging though, so no change on that front.  However, I am aware that my lack of single niche means some people couldn’t give a monkeys about half the things I have to say; you might have stumbled across Joli House for the travel posts and couldn’t give a monkeys about my handmade clothes, for example.  For that reason I’ve chosen a layout that makes categories easy to browse one at a time, whilst also being simple to cruise through as a regular old school blog if you so wish.

Now seems like a good time to indulge my love for list-making and share my plans for Joli House from now on.  My 4 year blogiversary is approaching and whilst parts of my original blogging style have remained the same, lots have changed too, so I’m excited to see where the next 4 years will take me!

Blog plans for the future

— Keep expanding the travel section.  Joli House is never going to be the place for impersonal travel information and ultimate destination guides.  Just the hopefully-informative travel diaries of a girl who’s always up for going somewhere new.  I’ll always keep it down to Earth and personal, whilst sharing as many beautiful and interesting places as I can.  With 5380 photos per post, obviously.

— Get back to designing.  I’ve written up knitting patterns for years, and recently I’ve had a few requests for crochet patterns so I might consider dipping my toe in those waters too.  Right now it’s not really viable for me to produce more than the occasional handmade item for other people (the time and materials required makes them more expensive than most realise) so maybe patterns are the way forward.

— Incorporate more shopping posts.  I feel like I lost my way with personal style blogging for a while, which is odd for somebody who deliberates over each outfit as much as I do!  Including a ‘shop the post’ element brings a kind of focus to an otherwise wishy washy ‘here’s what I wore’ though, so more of those will be cropping up.

— Keep things personal.  The most important one!  Diary posts will still appear every now and then and I’ll always share whatever daft stuff I’ve done (daftness is never in short supply round these parts).

shoes: c/o EGO | shirt: Zara | trousers: TU clothing | jacket: M&S

Oh it feels good to have a fresh start.  More travel content and all sorts coming your way soon!

Lily Kate x

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