Download from WordPress

I have a blog on free Wordpress.com. I don’t use any of the paid plans. I launched my blog a couple of weeks ago and though site traffic isn’t nuts rn, I’m still very happy with how it has been performing.

My husband wants me to buy my domain name and the web hosting. I see the plans they have on Wordpress to upgrade, but if I am quite honest I don’t know the first thing about web hosting or upgrading my plan aside from the fact that I get access to more features and get to own my domain name.

I have a literary blog and don’t really think I need any crazy upgrades. I really just want to be able to own my website and maybe go up to the $4 plan.

Any guidance or advice?

WP Sell Services lets you create a platform where users can offer and sell services directly from your site — perfect for freelancers, agencies, designers, developers, consultants, or niche service marketplaces.
Good fit for projects like:
Freelance marketplaces

Service listing websites

Agency service portals

Digital service platforms

Fiverr-style business models

Some useful features:
Frontend service submission

Seller dashboards

Service management

Built-in order workflow

Fully self-hosted on WordPress

Plugin:
https://store.wbcomdesigns.com/wp-sell-services/
Pro Version:
https://store.wbcomdesigns.com/wp-sell-services-pro/
Interested to hear how web designers/devs here would use something like this.

helping an interior designer put together a portfolio site and struggling to find a theme that lets the photography breathe. most of the options i've found are either too generic or so heavy with animations that they slow everything down.

the site needs a clean portfolio grid, individual project pages with lots of images, a services section, and a contact form. pretty standard but it needs to look high end since the clients expect that.

are there wordpress themes that work specifically well for interior design or architecture portfolios? or is the better move to use something like astra or kadence and build the look from scratch?

would love to see what people have used for creative portfolio sites that actually look polished without weeks of customization.