What is a Lifestyle Blog? 13 Must-See Examples

I’ll start this article off with a caveat: I’m not a lifestyle blogger. As Kerouac would say, I’m only offering my own confusion.

That said, I like digging into the world of blogging, and I’ve always found it interesting when someone says they’re a lifestyle blogger or have a lifestyle blog. Because when you think about it, just about any blog niche is part of a lifestyle.

Semantics aside, I get what people mean when they talk about a lifestyle blog, and that’s generally a blog that can’t really be categorized into one niche or area of interest.

After all, our lives are filled with all sorts of activities, interests, skills, experiences, so it makes sense that lifestyle blogs mimic that same variety.

What is a lifestyle blog?

A lifestyle blog is an online platform inspired by a blogger’s daily life, personal interests and areas of expertise, and usually includes content in more than one niche or interest.

Where some blogs may be defined by their niche – a food blog, for instance – lifestyle blogs are often defined by their variety of topics. Because of this diversity, they are great niches for parents to get into.

There are more overly complicated definitions, but essentially if you want to cover more than one niche on your blog, there’s a good chance yours would fall into the lifestyle blog category. If you want to publish recipes but also talk about decorating your home, you’ll likely have a lifestyle blog on your hands.

“A lifestyle blog is best defined as a digital content representation of its author’s everyday life and interests,” says influencer marketing agency Mediakix. “A lifestyle blogger creates content inspired and curated by their personal interests and daily activities.”

That’s a stuffy way of saying: lifestyle bloggers write about life. Other than that, there’s no real point in defining what a lifestyle blog is because it’s based on your ideas and creative goals.

“Nobody need define your lifestyle blog,” says Monica at The Elgin Avenue, “other than you.”

If you’re wondering what a lifestyle blog is so you can start your own, here’s some advice: don’t worry about labeling or packaging what you’re doing. Just do it.

You decide what a lifestyle blog is

If you’re looking to start a blog, be less concerned with definitions and more focused on your reasons for blogging. Do you want to write everyday? Create blog posts that inspire others? Make money? Build something creative and meaningful?

Lifestyle blogs are broad and ill-defined by nature. I run an outdoors blog, but you could also call it a lifestyle blog because outdoor recreation is a lifestyle.

There are no rules, and labels don’t matter. Just create the blog you want to see out in the world.

That said, the best lifestyle blogs often have a common thread through all their topics and content. If someone runs a lifestyle blog on healthy food, fitness and wellness, there’s usually a common theme that ties all the content back together.

It may be difficult to see in each specific post, but the overall theme of the lifestyle blog is strong as you go through the blog (or social media profile).

If you’re having a hard time deciding what your lifestyle blog will include, start small and go from there. Don’t try to do all things at once. Instead, pick a few popular niches that you’re interested in and expand from there.

“The mix of topics will represent your interests but it’s best to stick to those topics with broad appeal – food, travel, fashion, home decor, beauty, fitness and family,” says Alison Wright at Simply Hatch.

What are examples of lifestyle blogs?

It’s a lot easier to “show” what a lifestyle blog is rather than tell you about it, so here are 13 examples of lifestyle blogs in all types of niches.

Hopefully these prove that a lifestyle blog is a flexible, purposely broad label that can fit your creative goals and interests.

1. Camille Stylesa

Camille’s goal is to “inspire the pursuit of your passions,” and now has a team of creative folks to help achieve her mission. Hers is a perfect example of a lifestyle blog that started with one person and grew into a recognized online lifestyle brand.

2. Better Living

Better Living is more of a magazine-style blog, but the idea is still the same: they cover all types of content within their niches, but readers know to expect a certain standard from a site that gets over one million pageviews per month.

3. Julie Blanner

Julie is a great example of a lifestyle blogger who began her blogging journey as an extension of her personal life. She blogs about different subjects, but they’re all tied to her experience in the event industry.

4. A Beautiful Mess

Elsie and Emma’s blog’s motto is “stay home and make something,” a great example of a theme that weaves through multiple niches and content categories.

Even though they discuss a variety of topics, the “stay home” part of their motto means you won’t find much about travel, etc. Sometimes what you exclude is just as important as what you blog about.

5. Lauren Kay Sims

Lauren’s blog is a good example of a blog that started out in one niche – fashion – and blossomed into a more comprehensive blog that touches other topics as well.

6. The Stripe

The Stripe has a very distinct mission: “to leave you feeling like you just had coffee with your best girlfriend.” So their lifestyle content is positive, uplifting and designed to inspire.

7. Rachel Parcell

I learned about Rachel Parcell from my wife (like I do most big bloggers). Her blog started with some fashion and wedding content and took off after she was featured in a magazine.

Her site’s undergone a few changes over the years but she manages to keep a steady theme and aesthetic through her content. She also ends most of her blog post titles with an ellipsis.

8. Inspired by Charm

This blog’s a good example of why lifestyle blogs are so varied: founder Michael is “an interior designer, cook, DIYer, and writer” with a degree in hospitality management.

With that many interests and experiences, a blogger is bound to create a blog with tons of topics and subcategories, and Michael does a good job of keeping it all cohesive and on brand.

9. A Taste of Koko

A Taste of Koko is one of my favorite blog examples because it’s based on a lifestyle in one location: Austin, Texas. You might think by limiting herself to one spot (she does cover other areas, too) Koko would limit the type of content she can produce and traffic she’ll get, but the opposite is true.

By being laser focused on one area, she’s seen as one of the experts on Austin’s food and travel scene and gets a ton of traffic from her lifestyle content.

10. Coconuts and Kettlebells

Here’s a great example of having complimentary niches or topics on your blog that work well together. Health and fitness go hand in hand with food, so it makes sense that Noelle would cover these areas on her lifestyle blog.

But she also has categories for skincare, mindset and motherhood, which puts her firmly in the “lifestyle” category rather than just being a fitness or food blogger. And in fact, although a lot of her content is on fitness and food, her top posts for organic traffic are related to skin and body care.

11. Katie’s Bliss

Katie’s about page explains that her blog is meant to inspire and provide a “glimpse into life living in Manhattan.” Like Koko in Austin, Katie includes a cool location-based lifestyle factor that allows her blog and content to stand out.

She also has a large Instagram following that completes her lifestyle blog content platform.

12. The Chriselle Factor

“Chriselle’s goal is to encourage, educate, and inspire all women across the globe through her personal style, runway trends, beauty secrets, and fashion tips and trick,” says Chriselle’s about page.

This is one of the stronger, more clear mission statements I found out there and by the growth of her YouTube channel you can tell Chriselle’s hitting the mark with her content and audience.

13. Hello Adams Family

Like many examples of lifestyle blogs, Hello Adams Family began as something else – a fashion blog called Sequins & Stripes. Today, it’s a beautifully done lifestyle website that features lots of family-focused content and some localized content on Chicago.

It’s a good example of how bloggers often start in one specific niche and grow into others as their readership and interests also grow.

Common Lifestyle Blog Questions

What should a lifestyle blog include?

Again, there are no rules here, but the best blogs have a theme or thread that ties content across topics together. Some of the blogs mentioned above have three topics, and some have more than five. So there’s no real content or thing you should include other than to focus on what you’re interested in, where you can provide value and where you can best help your audience.

If that means only tackling food and fitness, so be it. Don’t try to be an expert in every area. It’s better to offer real value in two or three niches than offer superficial, surface-level info in seven niches.

Can you make money with a lifestyle blog?

Yes, and the blogs above can prove it. If you want more proof, check out these 100 blog income reports or Google something like “lifestyle blog” plus “blog income report.” You’ll see all sorts of examples of bloggers making money with lifestyle blogs.

You also don’t need to see blog income reports to know lifestyle blogs make money. If you’re on a blog you like, pay attention to how the site is monetized. Are there display ads? Sponsored posts? A printables shop? There are all types of blogs that make money, and lifestyle bloggers have plenty of monetization methods available.

How do I start a lifestyle blog?

Starting is the easy part – here’s how to start a blog that makes $1,000 and beyond. The hard part? Growing your blog and consistently providing value to your audience.

Even if you have no blogging or tech experience, starting and setting up your blog is relatively straightforward. It’s much harder and more time-consuming to keep your blog going over time by creating above-average content that helps and engages your audience.

What makes a successful lifestyle blog?

I’m not a lifestyle blog expert by any stretch, but when I see successful lifestyle blogs, I believe they have the same things in common: they’re authentic, based on a theme (however obvious), and even though they span multiple topics, they still have a coherent thread and message that’s tied to the blogger’s why and mission.

This isn’t always obvious, but if you look at some of the blogs above, you’ll see that even in different topics and content categories, they use similar tones, designs, images, vibes – whatever you want to call it – to make sure the blog is consistent across niches.

For example, Camille Styles’ blog is based on how to “live life like you mean it,” so whether she’s blogging about travel, style, food or design, that “mission” seeps into her blog’s content and aesthetics.

The most successful lifestyle blogs have a mission. The way they implement that mission (topics and niches) may vary, but the goal is the same.

Ready to start your lifestyle blog?

Now that you know more about what a lifestyle blog is (anything you want it to be), are you ready to start your own?

If you’re looking for help and inspiration, check out some of the best blog niches, first blog post ideas and examples and blog name ideas to get yo’ thang up and running.

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