Garden Glamour by Duchess Designs Unveils its Exquisite, Redesigned Website to Inspire and Celebrate an Artful, Entertaining Lifestyle
The stunning website redesign is ready for her close up! This Screen Siren* has seized her star turn.
The long-awaited custom redesign of my lifestyle blog Garden Glamour by Duchess Designs is officially launched.
Ta-Da!
While I still have lots to tweak and add, it’s so very exciting to finally realize the artful, glamorous look that I am proud to share with you.
The totally redesigned website features a stylish palette, preserving the brand identity while improving design elements that boost the reader’s experience and best showcases the expanded spectrum of lifestyle category topics that enrich the content; optimized to make it easier to navigate.
I wanted the new site to captivate and delight ~ to be a better expression of my Garden Glamour by Duchess Designs brand ~ to create and showcase beauty, naturally. But also, as a self-professed philomath, to bring new creative ideas, and experiences to be explored and rendered as life-enhancing for my readers.
And ultimately, to Inspire.
Inspiration is what makes Garden Glamour different from other blogs.
The blog aims to inspire, empower, and elevate the aesthete who pursues and appreciates artful living.
The revamp offers a holistic, clean, sophisticated design. And a decidedly feminine vibe…
Also, Garden Glamour is a personalized connection ~ it’s my stories and experiences as interpreted through the prism of the featured Chapters
The Layout
I’ve been blogging successfully for just shy of two decades. While retaining the moody, sultry, “little black dress” fashion it always had, the updated look is chic, clean, and yes, captivating.
My Duchess Design logo is prominently featured on the opening page and throughout. I’ve long used the difinitive logo in my Duchess Designs business. I first discovered the image as part of family research while Bill and I spent a long Valentine’s weekend in London. I had learned my great grandparents were married in a church adjacent to the Lambeth bridge ~ next to what is now, the Garden History Museum. I planned a visit, naturally. I also secured a copy of their wedding certificate that had that crest at the top. Using the image, I thought it a most fitting homage borrowed from my British ancestor’s London wedding certificate. And the Duchess moniker, you may ask? It is my dear father’s nickname for me. Plus, it felt like a good karma connection after the Lambeth, London, Garden revelation.
So I hope you see, everything about the website and the blog is all very personal. Thoughtful… Authentic… Inspired…
And with that as the first thing you see, the new website reveals itself. Unfolds. Spools…
And it's oh-so pretty!
Seeing the opening page for the first time with those luscious pink peonies ~ my favorite flower blossom ~ against the black backdrop, left me swooning.
In terms of the overall layout and interface ~ because I’m a visual artist and a published author, bibliophile, and voracious reader, I wanted to build off those brand elements; creating a kind of dreamy, emotional functionality for the blog audience while at the same time, summoning a nurturing, shared community; presented as:
Chapters:
The Art of the Garden ~ designs, horticulture, & garden events
The Art of the Garnish (playing off of one of my book’s titles)
The Art of Gathering ~ tablescapes & barscapes
Duchess Reads ~ my book reviews for NetGalley and Goodreads and Garden Glamour
Ladies Who Lunch Conversations ~ Interviews with the inspiring women from my monthly Facebook videocast (also shown on YouTube
Duchess: Death Doula ~ I earned my certificate and, with compassion, share the important journey of grieving and the human experience, as well as preparation and going with dignity and grace.
New categories include Duchess Picks ~ because so many folks have asked me where I source things for my tablescapes or garden designs, I am now providing links and a gallery of products and accessories as a courtesy to readers.
The Duchess Shop offers a convenient way to purchase my hand-painted watercolor cocktail napkin designs that are created to honor the Ladies Who Lunch Conversation guests; with a portion of the sales going to their chosen causes and foundations.
The Design
By now, I hope you’re wondering, so how did she get this new, classy, fashionable site that elegantly embraces the dream of an aspirational, inspiring, and aesthetically pleasing ambition ~ and to craft it as a place that is a delight to explore and learn from?
Funny you should ask! 😉
The story is, I had wanted to upgrade and revamp for years. I just hadn’t found the right design partner to migrate away from Blogger with. When earlier this year I finally took the plunge, (based on some fellow author’s recommendation), it turned out to be a bad fit. A very bad one; costly too. I was so crestfallen. Best laid plans and all that… It was all so ugly ~ the site and the experience.
I was forlorn. I just had to walk away for a spell.
Then, my cousin Peg and her son, Nik launched their new catering website: C-Suite Catering, which I loved and straight-away, I asked for their contact.
Which brings us to now.
Let me introduce you to what surely is a heaven-sent angel.
Taking her mark center stage is the most talented, creative thinker, designer, brand advocate, e-commerce strategist, and all ‘round one smart, plucky, dedicated woman: Katy Nedwick from Making Shapes!
With some trepidation, I pursued Katy. She was very busy… Yet, right from the start, Katy “got it.”
She was able to listen, inculcate and, once unleashed, work her magic.
What she said:
I asked Katy to offer her thoughts for a quote for the news release about the new site unveiling; I blushed to read her submission:
From our very first call, I knew working with Leeann would be a rewarding experience. I was immediately drawn to her vision and excited to help her bring cohesion to the diverse topics she writes about, transforming them into a beautifully unified brand. Her impeccable taste, attention to detail, and strong aesthetic sense made the creative process seamless and inspiring. What started as a client relationship has grown into a meaningful connection—I’m grateful we’ve become long-distance friends and look forward to our regular chats. Leeann is a treasure and collaborating with her has been a true privilege!
Thank you so much Katy. The spotlight shines on you.
She surprised me ~ surpassing my expectations for a superior, branded web design. Katy skillfully captured the essence of my inspired resolve, creating a singular delight and joy that I know readers will swoon to experience. There’s limitless possibilities for creativity and brand expansion…
In a similar way with my garden designs, it was always my goal to always offer the client something that they didn’t know they wanted but once they saw it in the proposal, couldn’t do without. Katy did just that for me. Plus, her dedication for the administration and “back end” to make a seamless working migration to a new platform and make it work in a Google world is priceless.
To anyone else considering a web and/or blog makeover, this is truly my number one Duchess Picks! I’m a card-carrying Katy fan-girl!
Maybe because Katy is based in star-making Hollywood, her artful, cinematic aesthetic infuses her technology and brand strategy to form a triumphant trifecta of success.
The Roots of Garden Glamour
I started Garden Glamour because I wanted to write about gardens: my garden designs for clients and for my home at our country house.
Also, I wanted to share what I learned from the impeccable landscape professionals whose lectures I attended via the New York Botanical Garden and at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Also, it was a heady era. I was in the throes of publishing my first book ~ The Hamptons and Long Island Homegrown Cookbook and was also a feature columnist for the Examiner, covering New York’s radical, scintillating food and drink scene. I attended just about every Beard on Books talk at the Beard Foundation, just a block from our Gotham apartment, building my home library at the same time with autographed culinary stories and cookbooks. At this time, around 2008, it was then the burgeoning world of slow food, homegrown ingredients, TV food shows. Celebrity chefs were increasingly referred to as the new rock stars. (briefly, I even wrote the Celebrity Chefs and Their Gardens blog. It’s now an orphan blog ☺️)
From these exalted roosts I felt I could share my privileged access to the movers and shakers in the worlds of food, drink, and gardens.
I was able to scoot about Gotham like a grown-up, latter-day Eloise.
There was always something exciting to see, taste, drink, and above all, learn from the dedicated, passionate experts of landscape designers, chefs, mixologists, restaurant designers, growers, farmers, bakers, and more…
Moreover, I had just exited from working in Communications at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the New York Botanical Garden before that, following a most exciting and rewarding professional career in corporate public relations and communications.
My business travels allowed me to discover the world. I was able to visit gardens in Japan, Europe, South America, Africa, and more. I also had the privilege to dine in world-class restaurants and jazzy nightclubs.
I had a lot to report on. Stories to be told…
From the beginning, the keystone was the Plants. Plants and their exotic, mysterious worlds they generously share with us.
Plants are still my muse.
I am fond of pointing out to folks that all spirits/liquor comes from plants.
So too, the world of fragrances, perfumes.
And so much of our textiles and fashions come from plants and/or are inspired by plants.
Cultural pursuits of literature, poetry, music, myths, legends, architecture, fashion, medicine, beauty, history, fine art, including sculpture, painting, and more, are by and large powerful expressions of our identity most often fueled and inspired by the biodiversity, complexity, and luxury of flora…
When thinking up a moniker for the blog, I didn’t have a moment’s hesitation.
It would be: Garden Glamour.
And it still resonates, almost two decades in…
I enjoyed using this rather fanciful name for the newly emergent world of social media; naming my Twitter and later, my Instagram accounts Garden Glamour. (Until I was hacked on IG, never to recover. I felt so violated. And why Meta lets it just sit there is beyond me. Sigh...)
Now, I’m Garden Glamour at Duchess Designs on Instagram. Please do Follow or re-Follow…
And recently, I just signed on to Blue Sky as Garden Glamour. So far, loving the blue butterfly brand icon and the good vibes. (Boo to X.)
The new web design pays homage to Garden Glamour’s deep roots: its legacy, older blog posts, are all there. You can find them all on the site by scrolling back or using the Search button to locate a past event or gardening ideas and unique tablescape designs from the past.
And now, I’m also open again to Guest Bloggers and Collaborators. If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out.
While I’ve been researching and writing Garden Glamour for so many years, it remains so very exciting ~ there’s ever so much to write about and share.
…Seasonal garden designs, horticulture tips, new plant introductions, best practices. Seasonal and Holiday Tablescape designs, Barscapes, Cocktails and their Garden-to-Glass glamorous Garnishes…
The opportunities are endless.
As I note on the home page, “There is inspiration all around us, all you’ve got to do is look,” according to our darling Elizabeth Taylor.
I look forward to a delicious, beautiful, glamorous future.
Please do sign on to Stay Inspired and have Garden Glamour delivered directly to you.
Cheers to this long awaited ~ and I hope you’ll agree, a very posh, glamorous redesigned blog and website…
* A screen siren is exotic, alluring ~ and one who challenges censorship and influences culture. I aim to make Garden Glamour that screen siren for our time…
Cheers to being inspired 🥂
