Once you are established and determine blogging is for you then I suggest a custom design. We outgrew our original design quickly. We wanted a professional design that matched our personalities. Since we have limited HTML knowledge we opted to hire a designer. Not only did she create a custom design for us she migrated us from blogger to word press. As you know I suggest migrating to Word Press/Self Host if you are not.
My best advice to you is to research your designer and get a referral before you hire one. Find out how if she/he has a waiting list, how long it will take from design to install and all costs involved. I found our designer through Mom Bloggers Club and I would highly recommend her. We used JudithShakesDesigns.com. The designer that you chose should depend on the budget that you have. We wanted a custom design and did not want to use graphics from istock. Our designer is also available for upgrades or changes if we need her which is important.
I think it is important to keep your design clean and easy for your readers to find what you have to offer them. It is always a work in progress as you will continue to make changes in your blog however be sure that when you make changes that your readers can always find the content that you are providing them.
Your design is a personal choice and once you are established you have to keep in mind is that your readers are comfortable with it. If you decide to make a drastic change make sure it is one that will benefit your readers.
Please take a moment to link up your blog and tell us your designer if you have one that you love! Or if you are a designer please feel free to link up too! In addition to JudithShakesDesigns who did Stockpiling Moms our hubbies used Ali at MyGodGivenMissionField who did a fabulous job with their blog, Stockpiling Dads. My hubby actually drew the graphics used in their design and Ali was fabulous to work with and I highly suggest her if you are on a budget or don’t want a custom design.
As stay-at-home moms for eight years, Melissa and Shelley know what it takes to live a savvy lifestyle within a budget. Their passion for helping people has expanded their reach from Stockpiling Moms.com to also including speaking engagements, book authors (Savvy Saving Couponing Secrets from the Stockpiling Moms) and conference co-hosts. Melissa and Shelley are best friends who met through 
Hi. I am on blogger now, but I am growing and I think it is time to get ready to move to self-hosting. The problem is I know nothing about maintaining a website. How would I deal with something like this? (I know no HTML).
I didn’t either when I migrated which is why I hired a custom designer to migrate us and create a custom design. Maintaining it has been no problem though once we migrated.
There really isn’t that much to maintain on the website itself. If you feel very uncomfortable you can have a designer set it up for you.
If you use WP you will want to make sure you keep your plugins and blog updated but it really is easy and if you have a good designer they will be their for you to help you if you run into a problem. Now your designer may charge for this service but you can understand it takes time away from their designs. But they should only really charge a minimum fee.
Both my partner and I were amazed at some of the prices, so since I am familiar with html and coding and she is great with graphics, we teamed up to offer affordable options!
I love your site here- your graphics are great!
When I first started blogging, I was forever using the free templates, changing them around, etc. When I wanted a more ‘permanent’, unique look, I went to Jessica from The Frilly Coconut. We’re in the process of moving from Blogger to WordPress, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Great article. One of my goals with my design business is to really help mom bloggers to really love and respect their blog. To make them stand out in a crowd and be unique.
Glad to see that you used Judith Shakes, too. Courtney did my site & she is a joy to work with! Great idea for a post. Many will find this helpful!