Primary red and mauve don't go with green

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I am not completely happy with how my Etsy shop (LilySteeple) looks.  So this week, I have made it my goal to improve it.  But where to start? 

My quandry is best expressed by my own shop logo of a lilypad leaf which I chose because it is quite a good photo.  Other good photos considered were of a zebra and an ornate marble staircase which I used as a banner for a while.

None of these make much sense in terms of my shop, like an album cover image that doesn't relate to either the band or it's music.  Also the logo is green, so any featured listings usually clash quite badly with it.

I could change my logo to 'Lily Steeple' written in the loopy style of a '40s knitting pattern title or an illustration of a 1940s model but part of me quite likes the lilypad, however non-sensical.  And it's this part that's digging it's heels in.

Making sense
Researching what other people have done with their shops is one way to gather ideas for how to improve your own.  Shops I admire on Etsy include 'Stella and Wolf', 'Heart of a Dog' and 'Faroe Knits'.  This latter has beautiful banner photographs of panoramic Faroe landscapes with lopi sweaters modelled in the foreground.

What all of these sites have in common is that they make sense.  They sell one type of thing and in the case of 'Stella and Wolf' and 'Faroe Knits', they use a single colour palette across all their items.  The photography of all three shows off their items beautifully and simply.

All of which leaves my own site looking a bit of an eclectic jumble, making this week's task of getting it into shape all the more daunting.

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