Website Makeover, Step One: Finding Inspiration and Asking the Hard Questions

Welcome back to the Creative Muse Handmade journal—and to the very first step in my website improvement journey using ChatGPT!

If you read my last post, you’ll know this blog series isn’t about expert advice or polished tutorials. It’s about one creative person (me!) figuring things out as I go—with a little help from AI, a lot of curiosity, and a genuine love for handmade creativity.

After deciding to use ChatGPT to help refresh and improve my website, I wasn’t exactly sure where to start. I mean, “improve your website” is such a broad goal! So, I began the way I often start my creative projects: by looking for inspiration.

Finding inspiration in the details – where creative ideas, handmade charm, and website dreams come together.

Step One: Finding a Website That Spoke to Me

I started browsing websites from all sorts of industries—businesses both big and small—just to see what resonated with me as a potential customer. What felt warm and welcoming? What layouts made me want to stay and explore? What design details gave off that “just right” handmade vibe?

Eventually, I found a website I really liked. It had the kind of layout, aesthetic, and overall feel that made me think, Yes—this is what I want my site to feel like. It wasn’t about copying, of course, but more about identifying the elements that appealed to me and then figuring out how I might adapt and apply that inspiration to my own site.

Step Two: Getting a Second Opinion (from ChatGPT)

Armed with both websites—my own, Creative Muse Handmade, and the one I admired—I asked ChatGPT to take a look (well, metaphorically speaking!).

I prompted ChatGPT to compare the two sites and provide constructive feedback on how Creative Muse Handmade stacked up. I wanted honest insight: what was working, what wasn’t, and what changes might help make my site more inviting, more user-friendly, and (hopefully!) more likely to turn browsers into buyers.

The feedback I received was surprisingly thoughtful and practical—things like:

• Making better use of whitespace and layout to reduce visual clutter

• Ensuring fonts and colours are consistent and easy to read

• Improving navigation and product categorisation

• Creating a clearer visual hierarchy on the homepage

• Adding more storytelling to product descriptions to highlight the handmade touch

Some suggestions felt instantly doable, while others I flagged for later, knowing they’d take more time or learning. But overall, it gave me a clear direction—and some much-needed confidence—to start making intentional changes.

In my next post, I’ll show you exactly what changes I tackled first. Bit by bit, I’m hoping to turn my site into something that feels just as welcoming and thoughtfully made as the products I sew by hand.

Thanks for following along—and if you’re doing your own DIY website journey, I’d love to hear about it!

Let’s keep building something beautiful, one small step at a time.