Hi and welcome!
To Design Your Own (lovely) Blog, or as I like to call it, DYOB. Let me tell you a little bit about who I created DYOB for:
You are a professional
You have confidence in how you serve your clients
You take yourself seriously
Does your blog or website reflect this?
Design overwhelm ends now!
Here on DYOB, you’ll find:
- Tutorials on how to customize your blog’s design
- Design trends in blogs for women
- Practical guides on how to define and enhance your brand to reflect you
- Exclusive advice on how to enhance visitor experience and get more traffic
A plethora of design ideas all in one place? You got it!
But first? Subscribe now and to get access to the growing library of guides, worksheets and behind-the-scenes details of a growing blog business.
The Vision
DYOB exists to teach & inspire female solopreneurs & bloggers to beautify their blogs DIY-style. While I don’t wish to replace web designers, knowing how to do your own blog customization makes you less reliant on one for all the little things you want to change on the fly. I see DYOB becoming a hub for women to learn basic design and coding skills while supporting each other in building their businesses.
The Mission
My mission is to show women like you that things like CSS and design are not scary things and that you can build the business of your dreams with a blog to match your aspirations. I show you how to do this by sharing free and premium educational resources, feedback, advice and inspiration.
Look, until recently I was a wife and a full time working mom to a toddler with a side hustle. Work/life balance? Ha! Does that even exist??
I believe so. I’m here to help you break free from the stress of being a working mom or end the monotony of being a stay at home mom with nothing to call her own. I want every mom out there to not only feel like she has the time to be a great mother, but the ability to create something fulfilling and share it with the world… and hopefully make a little money too.
Are you new here and wondering where to start?
Start Here
Designers are not always a necessary expense — let’s beautify your site together.
Having studied web design and multimedia at the University of Colorado, I’ve consulted with both large and small businesses. For over a decade, I’ve worked with companies both on their brand design and online presence. I’m a design geek, color palette aficionado and feminine-design obsessive.
Through my years of experience, one thing that stood out to me is this: website design is paramount to how your customers see you. And first impressions? They’re even more important when you’re not physically there to make them.
Your blog doesn’t just sell your products or services — it teaches your children what’s possible, and shows your peers what you’re capable of.
Give your site an identity — yours.
You already have the imagination and creative vision. Let’s translate it onto your site.
Join our tribe of creative solopreneurs and get access to the growing library of resources by subscribing now:
Features on Other Blogs
Thank you to Rebekah Radice for including me in her list of 26 CRAZZZY Talented Visual Marketing Pros You Need to Follow (like RIGHT NOW!)! I’m truly honored to be mentioned among some of these visual marketing greats!
I am so pleased to have my Facebook Group, Blog Beautiful mentioned as one of 15 Best Facebook Groups for WordPress Bloggers to Join on Elegant Themes!
My popular Favicon tutorial was featured in the amazing guide and resource, DIY Blog Critique, by Melissa Culbertson of Blog Clarity!
Check out my chat with Jeff Bell at Startup Hub and Template Monster and Learn to Build Your Own Website From Scratch If You Know Nothing About Web Design
Read my guest post, 7 Steps to Creating a Consistent Solopreneur Brand, on OneWomanShop.com.
MORE FEATURES...MORE ABOUT MARIANNEMy Life in an Ordered List (Probably Way More Than You Wanted to Know)

Me // My Family // My Costa Rica Beach Wedding (Yes I was pregnant. Yes I was engaged first.) // Me learning to surf in Costa Rica // Our honeymoon beach walk // My blog photoshoot
- I’m a Taurus. I was born on 5/5 at 5:55am, no joke. That’s 5 fives in case you didn’t notice. Can you guess my favorite number?
- I am the first of my family to be born in the USA. My mother is Belgian-born and my father is Swedish-born.
- My brother is the last in line to carry on our Swedish family name. He has two girls. :[
- My first language was French and I spoke it quite well all through high school because my grandmother came to visit every year. Now I’m quite terrible at it! 🙁
- I’ve always been a little unconventional. I told myself I would never work a desk job. Haha look at me now!
- I was mostly a tom boy with a little girliness mixed in.
- I’m overly emotional and cry or get angry at the drop of a hat (something I’m working on).
- I was born and raised in New Jersey and all my life wanted to move to California.
- My first major in college was music, particularly voice. I sang all my life up til then and I wanted to be a choir teacher.
- I was a hippie and used to follow Phish around the east coast. They are still my favorite band.
- Travel and relocation has always been in my blood (look at my parents!) It’s an itch I have to scratch!
- After a few years of college in NJ, I finally moved out west, but only made it as far as Colorado!
- I took “a year” off of school to get residency which ended up being 3 or 4 years.
- I started out in Denver then 6 months later I moved to Summit County where I snowboarded almost every day, worked as a lift operator, rental shop associate, waitress, etc. in Keystone and Breckenridge for 3 years.
- I now hate winter.
- Wondering what to do with my life, I moved back down the hill to Boulder where I enrolled in a Web Design continuing education program.
- I got my first “real” job as a web coder then got laid off 2 years later during the dotcom crash. (am I dating myself now??)
- There were no jobs at the time, so I went back to school at the University of Colorado at Denver where I studied design and multimedia.
- Shortly afterwards, I moved back to Denver where I’ve now been for quite some time.
- In 2009 I read The 4-Hour Work Week and it changed my life. I knew there was more to life than this desk job (see? I should have listened to my younger self!) and the rat race.
- I started my first blog that year called A Life Set Free. I gave up after about a year because the topic didn’t light me up, but I continued to learn about building an online business and continued to follow amazing bloggers who are still around today.
- In 2010 my then-fiance and I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and we started dreaming about buying a little hotel/cafe somewhere near the beach.
- In 2011, we got married on the beach in Dominical, Costa Rica and fell in love with it. We now have plans to move there in the fall of 2016!
- In late 2011, we welcomed our son Reider.
- I also have a step-son who’s about to graduate from high school!
- We have one pet: an 18 year old cat named Buster. He used to be the reigning bully of the neighborhood in his day.
- My husband and I are addicted to SUP (stand up paddle boarding)
- In late 2012, it finally hit me what I should blog about: web design for newbies, duh!
- After more than 6 months (I take forever to do things!) DYOB finally launched on July 29, 2013!
- We’re still on track to move to Costa Rica in 2016 and start a small retreat of bungalows where we can host camps, retreats and weddings. Be on the lookout for a DYOB retreat some day!
Congratulations, You Made It!
I didn’t really think anyone would read all that, but I’m glad you did. Here’s a gold star for you!

Want to know how I made this gold star?
Hi Marianne,
I realized when going back to ALIST that you had this blog. So here I am. I would be
interested in your help and your price list etc. I’ll subscribe and hope to hear from you.
THANK YOU again for all your help on the Forum, Beth Havey Boomer Highway
Hi beth! You should start by checking out my ebook download, I think it will really help you get off to a good start. Then if you have any specific questions, I am always happy to answer them. Currently I’m not really doing any side work but I’m open to working with you if you get really stuck, so let’s see how it goes!
Hi Marianne! Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing my SITS Day…even if it was late. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving. Sounds like a nice life, like you love what you do. How cool is that?!
Hi Laurie!
Thanks for coming by! I loved your posts, they were very enlightening and fun to read.
I do love what I do! Just wish I could do it full time! 🙂 All in due time though.
Hi Marianne,
I loved your web design and all your content in it. And I am pretty much getting along with the design works. I also want to go into this field of designing and all the stuffs around related to it. I feel inspired looking at the designs over online and get a feeling that yes i can also do it. So I am on this journey now. And now your content has also inspired me. Hope to know and learn from your end in this field. Anyway Good luck and best wishes to you and your work. Enjoy designing.
https://www.facebook.com/yodesignks
#prabhatks #yodesign
Hi Prabhat, that’s wonderful! Very happy to hear this is something you want to get into and that you’ve found my site to be inspiring! I highly suggest you subscribe using the form at the top of the page to stay up to date on the latest tutorials and my upcoming book on how to create a custom design for your blog.
Okay. I will surely do and I follow your posts and updates. Really Interests me and fascinates me. Thank You for your time. Hoping to get more into it in the coming future.
Hi Marianne,
I just visited your site for the first time and love the way it looks! It feels really inviting and I can’t wait to dig in and learn from you!
Wieske
Thank you so much Wieske, that means a lot!
Marianne~ so grateful I found your blog. My sweet little blog needs some desperate help {such as- why in the world can commentluv only find my comment feed, not the actual most recent post!?… I don’t really know what I’m doing on the technical side of things}. SO, I am excited to look through your ebook. You found a kindred Colorado spirit in me- we live over in Lakewood. 🙂 I’ll probably be visiting back here quite often as I try to get my blog to look the way I dream it too. Thanks so much!
Hi Sarah, we are practically neighbors 🙂 well I hope my ebook and articles help your blog’s design to blossom!
I wish I could answer your issue with Comment Luv but I don’t know too much about that. Have you tried contacting them? They must support I’m sure.
Salam kenal mbak dari Indonesia 😀
Thank you Fajar!
Hi Marianne, nice looking blog. There are lot of things that I can learn from you and your blog. I moving towards my goal that one day I can work comfortably at my home. It not easy for me as a non native English writer to keep writing and I struggle a lot. The only easy way out is to give up but this haven’t come to my mind. I will make my dream to become reality.
Hi Cena! You and I have the same goal. You’re on the right track: don’t give up, keep pushing towards your dreams!
Hello Marianne !
I would like to ask for your help , because I can see other people’s blog that their blog post is shorter while mine has a longer post like you can read the whole blog post while theirs.. you can click the continue reading and I don’t know what html should I put to be able to have a continue reading thing on my blog please help me 🙂 Thank you so much Marianne
Sincerely
Molly
Hi Corinne! It looks like you are on Blogger so here is a pretty quick tutorial on how to do this in Blogger: https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/154172?hl=en Hope it helps and let me know how it goes!
hello, im new with blogging, i recently started a fashion blog mainly for men, and Im still learning about designing my blog to make it myself.
That’s great! I hope you find some useful information here then. Good luck with your new blog!
Marianne, you have such a beautiful “About Marianne” page. Such a precious story about you and your family. I pray you and your family make that move and continue to enjoy life. I too, want to get out of the rat race, and am working hard and steady with my blog and digital products. Thank you for sharing. Kris Manley
Hi Kristine, thank you so much for your sweet words! I so appreciate your prayers and I hope for you to get yourself out of the rat race soon too! Life is too short!
Hi Marianne…so glad I came across your blog and this group on Fb….I am in so need of skills in this area. I am not very techy and find the design stuff of blogging VERY frustrating, some days that part of it really wants to make me just quit. I have hired some of it out, but was not so happy with the results…Looking forward to connecting ,engaging and learning more…
Best to you,
Valerie
Hi Valerie I am so glad you found me then! I am happy to help where I can, just let me know if you’re looking for anything specific at any time, k?
Hi,Marianne!
Thanks,It’s Really cool… 🙂
Hi Marianne! I am a beginners beginner so bare with me please! You offer themes, logos, & fonts for websites that have already been built? This means one would have to already be tech savvy right?
Hi Alicia
I don’t currently offer themes, logos or fonts myself but I do suggest ones by other designers and have some favorite resources to go to that I mention in my posts and tutorials. I try to make all of my posts for the non-tech savvy user, but would love to hear from you if you feel that you don’t understand any of my posts.
Thanks for coming by!
Hi Marianne,
Thank you for your inspiration, now I can do a little bit of web design, just bought a new theme and change it here and there.
Cheers,
Kristina
Oh that is so awesome Kristina, I am so happy to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Move to Costa Rica? Oh fun! My dream is to have a small home somewhere in the French Riveria and run a little cafe… and listen to French music, drink coffee and read amazing books. J’adore tout les choses francais. (Did I write that correctly?)
Oh Suzi, you’re speaking my language, ha! Your dream sounds amazing, I’d love to end up in France one day, but I have to convince my husband first. For now, we at least agreed on the beach! Yes I believe you did write that correctly btw 🙂
Just stopping thru to say hi!
Hey babe! 🙂
Hi, Marianne,
I found your website while looking for web designers. I designed a Blogger blog four years ago for nine women Photographers to collaborate. It is called Focusing on Life and we not only focus on photography but other subjects of interest to women. I designed our blog as it is currently but we are wanting to do an update. I know how to do some of the things we want to do but others I am having problems with. Do you have a service where you assist people by helping them in certain problem areas? For example, some of the things I’m trying to do require HTML changes and I’m not by any means an expert in that area. We could discuss this further if this is a service that you offer. Thanks for your consideration.
Hi Terri. I am about to start offering some custom services, but have not yet gotten into structuring packages. I would love to hear what you have in mind and see how I can help. Feel free to send me a message via my contact page and I’ll be sure to reply as soon as possible.
Hi Marianne love the site! I was signed up on your Facebook page and now looks like i was kicked off. If I was kicked off do you now why? I am trying to build up my site and found your site very helpful.
Hi Marcie, first of all, sorry that I’m just now seeing your comment, for some reason it was sitting in my spam folder 🙁 As far as the group, not sure what happened there. If you’d like to rejoin, go ahead and request in again!
Hi Marianne! I’m so glad I found this group! I’m just getting started. Thanks for the add to the FB group!
Thanks for joining Melissa! Welcome and I hope you find it very useful! 🙂
Hi Marianne,
Thanks for the informative content.
Regards,
Gayyemko
Hi! I was trying to email you. What is your email?
Hi Nadia, you can send me a message via the contact form here: https://designyourownblog.com/contact/ 🙂
Creating a good website is based on a good design. You need to have the right people to work on your website and have inputs on the design you choose.
I am thankful to you. Thanks