02 February 2010

Change is coming and I need your help


"Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer"
Caspar David Friedrich , 1818

I have big changes and big plans in mind.

I've begun the process of rethinking Kitchen and Residential Design and so far as I'm concerned, everything except for the name is fair game in this reworking. I'm going to move everything over to a new Word Press template and that's going to give me a lot more flexibility so far as how everything is going to look and function. This is a process of course, and I'm not in any great hurry to have all this done tomorrow. I have however set a goal for a re-launch in May.

I want to use this planned change to ratchet up what I do here by a couple of notches and that's where I'd love your feedback. For starters, what's missing? I mean that in the layout sense and in the editorial sense. Is there a function on another blog you like and wouldn't mind sharing? Are there topics I don't touch on or touch on too much? I write this thing as a means of self expression of course, but what keeps me writing it is the feedback I get from you guys. So now's your chance to help me make this a better site. Pretend for a moment that you're running the show. What would you do differently? How can I make this site better? Oh, and unless some angel investor wants to descend, this has to be done on the cheap.

Now about that angel investor...

20 comments:

  1. Pretend for a moment that you're running the show.

    i enjoy your "show" because it is *yours* not mine, so i look forward to any changes you see fit to bring to us!

    just keep on keepin' on...

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  2. I'm going to write more stories about how I fold laundry then. Thanks Christian, I appreciate your vote of confidence. I'm serious about asking for ideas though. Although, the angel investor option's always available. How about Maison 21's Kitchen and Residential Design?

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  3. i would say the content area needs to be wider in the new theme you choose. Another great addition would be a link to our site in your sidebar :)

    Keep up the good work

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  4. Hah! In exchange for that backlink fellas, what are you going to do for me. :)

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  5. Just make sure you save a bit 'o the snark, please!? :)

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  6. Have no fear about that, there will probably be even more than there is already. Speaking of comments Adrienne, it's great to see you being so productive over there. I haven't been able to leave a comment though, something's up with your comment form. Hmmm.

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  7. I'm glad you're doing a re-launch because I have the worst time with this website loading. I have no idea why, but it's really slow and sometimes I can't leave comments. That's my only gripe.
    I really look foward to your blog every single day. Of course, I prefer the ones when you're unloading on us about something absurd, but I have learned more than I'd ever dreamed about kitchen, renovation, and all that other stuff.

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  8. I'd love it if you had tabs at the top like 'Young House Love' has - an 'about me' section, 'FAQ' 'Marble Countertops & the myths' etc etc!

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  9. Please keep - your incredible sense of humor and personality coming thru in every post! I love that!!
    Perhaps a way to make your pictures larger! When you learn how can you let me know too!!
    xx-Gina

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  10. Love that image - a threatening sea of Wordpress ahead. I agree, pick a wider column so you can have bigger images, otherwise just keep on being you and entertaining us all.

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  11. The only thing I can think of is more *opinion* stuff. I really enjoy the fact that you say what you think about so many things instead of just going along with what everyone else is saying. Critical thinking is fabulous :)

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  12. Hmmm, I wonder what problem you're having with the loading thing Melody, I've not heard that before. Anybody else having that trouble?

    Anonymous: Tabs are definitely part of the new design. Definitely.

    Gina and everybody else: softening my edge or dulling my sense of humor is most certainly NOT part of this revamp. I should have been more clear. If anything, it's going to get even more pronounced. Photo size is a definite part of what's motivating this move too, so the new blog will have larger photos, most definitely.

    Sarah: Thanks for commenting on that painting. I was thinking this morning about how to express where my head is with regard to this move and the German Romantics popped into my head immediately. Well, the Romantics did at any rate. The image I found just happened to be German. Anyhow, that painting sums up my mood perfectly. Thanks for your feedback.

    Nim, Nim, Nim: Have no fear, mincing even fewer words is another goal for this newly imagine version of K&RD. That's your fault for encouraging me when I go off on anti-AT rants by the way.

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  13. I'd like more opinion stuff and also more real world examples... perhaps your past projects or stuff like your sketchup models, etc. I am interested in new products coming out but I am perhaps more so interested in actually designing with these things, you know?

    I like mosaics too, but you go a little crazy on that sometimes.

    Leave it to me to be blunt. :)

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  14. Duly noted Rachele, thanks for the candor. I worry about my obsessions being too obsessive and I appreciate your feedback.

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  15. I'm excited for you to move to WordPress! I'd love a Flickr photostream or a section dedicated to visuals in some way.

    I don't think it needs to be said again, but your humor & opinion posts are what make you a favorite.

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  16. Julie: A photostream of my images is a terrific idea...

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  17. Really you are only using a small proportion of your page width at the moment so definitely broaden the columns - perhaps go for three columns and dedicate one to advertising so we don't lose stuff when we are too tired to scroll. Something like this maybe?

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  18. My current column width is a function of my Blogger template. Believe it or not, I taught myself enough HTML to expand it, so this is a wider version of it than it was originally.

    The new template is a three column, and the ads will all be on the left column. I'm also shopping the idea of whole page underwriting, though I haven't found the right advertiser for that scheme yet.

    Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate all of it.

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  19. Hi Paul, I was trying to find a post you did about Cambria and realized you could use a "search" function.

    Consider me embarassed if you have one and I just wasn't able to find it.

    With your growing archives, it'd be groovy to find the old stuff easily.

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  20. Thanks Kit, I do have a custom search bar up there but I screwed up the coding two weeks ago and haven't fixed it yet. My bumbling through my HTML is another reason I'm going to hire a pro for this job. Hah!

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