If you haven’t noticed yet (ahem!), we got a brand new website! Ta dah! It’s been a LONG time in coming. In fact, we got a new website in 2019 that had ALSO been a longtime in coming. However, from the get go it didn’t fill our needs and we needed an update right away–not a good sign. We’ve been working on this new one since the end of last year with the absolute best team and it’s finally here and now we want to share it with the world. It’s efficient and beautiful–the best of both worlds. Here are 10 things we love about our new website and why I think you’ll love it too.
Everyone has played their role in making this website happen so I wanted to hear directly from the team. You can read and see more about them in our new about page!
Jenny, our brand manager:
- The navigation! The navigation is absolutely the MVP of the new website. It is so easy to navigate through categories and subcategories, see all recent posts, or learn more about our partnerships/courses/books/etc. Having the navigation at the top and on the side is super helpful as well.
- The homepage. The homepage feels like the most beautiful ode to what The House That Lars Built represents. There are lovely scallops, color blocking, beautiful feature blocks highlighting our latest posts, “The Best of Lars”, our courses, our current product collaborations, and collections of blog content relevant to the time of year. It just makes me so proud to scroll through!
- The category pages. I LOVE the main pages for each category! They are so beautifully organized with featured content and subcategories at the top, all of the posts that are under that category included below, and a darling feature block at the bottom to highlight any blog posts or subcategories that feel extra notable. So cute!
Garet, our designer:
- The branding! Hello color-blocking, scallop details, and fresh borders! Let’s talk about the typefaces — so polished and feminine. Absolutely gorgeous. The new website feels editorial without losing its whimsy.
- The category pages. I agree with Jenny, the organization for each category is gorgeous and functional. It’s like the digital version of the most organized crafting closet — you can easily find everything and it is a JOY to look at.
- The “Things We Love” page. I consider myself somewhat of a professional online window shopper and this page is my paradise. The curation of all of the products with the beautiful, uncluttered product images makes me want to fill up my cart and buy everything. I could spend hours on this page alone.
Brittany:
What DON’T I love about the new website?! Honestly, I could go on and on, but my top are:
- I love how this site is for YOU! I mean, it’s adorable FOR SURE (and I love everything about it!), but it’s all built with the intent that our readers can find what they want and what they didn’t even know they want, so much better. We have thousands of blog posts that were all hidden and now you can find everything so much better.
- I adore the “timeline” on the about page. I’m not one who dwells in my accomplishments–I’m kind of a workhorse without time for pause. Seeing our big accomplishments laid out like makes me teary eyed. Also finally having a section to highlight my team members! Lars is such a team effort and I’m so proud to highlight my favorite people. We are so lucky to have each other!
- The heart of Lars lies in collaboration. Whether it’s a brand partnership or sponsorship, we love working with other people–there’s a magic in collaboration. Our partnership page highlights some of the wonderful companies we’ve been able to work with over the years.
- I’ve gotten a lot of questions over the years like “where is your favorite place to buy dresses?” and and I’ve always had a really clunky answer. I wrote a blog post about it here and shared some links, but NOW we have a whole beautiful section! In Things We Love, this is what’s called “affiliate” links. A lot of influencers use it for their whole business model. Pretty much, they share a link and if you buy it they make a percentage of the sale. We’ve done affiliate links half heartedly over the years, but now we’re revving up to share more in a variety of categories. Check back often so you can catch the new updates!
The best web design and dev team
I have to give a huge shout out to our web design and development team. They were a complete JOY to work with! I was a big fan of the work of Do-Hee Kim and Jess Levitz of Shoppe Theory and we were so lucky to be able to work with them. Their team was efficient, cooperative, inventive, and completely nailed it! They gave us a much needed brand refresh as well as a brand new site. I can’t say enough good things about them.
Then on the development side we worked with Lindsay of Made to Thrive, who specifically works on WordPress and Shopify sites. Somehow we had a similar experience! Efficient, on the ball, knowledgeable, hard working, understanding, and kind. Honestly, a part of me is bummed this website is done because we won’t get to work with them again.
How to find the right website development team
I have a lot of advice about how to find a good team to work with that I may turn into a blog post, so stay tuned for that. It makes the hugest difference. I’ve had the opposite experience too so I can vouch.
I also have to give a huge shout out to Jenny on our team who handled all the logistics of the new site. Jenny is the yin to my yang and I’m so grateful for her. There was so much to do to make it happen from copywriting, visuals, emails, and so much more. Thank you Jenny!
Check out the new website
Without further ado, I invite you to check out the new website and tell me what you think. I’m totally open to feedback too. If you see something that you were hoping for or something that isn’t right, let me know in the comments!