"Our SharePoint looks like everyone else's SharePoint." It's the most common complaint about Microsoft 365 intranets - default grey header, generic theme, a flat list of people, calendars scattered everywhere. The good news: you can fix all of it without an agency rebuild. Here's the playbook, in priority order.
1. Fix the header first - it's the most-seen element
Every page shows the site header, so it's the highest-leverage change. Out of the box you can swap the logo and pick a preset layout, but you can't set brand colours freely, control typography, build a proper menu or add a call-to-action. The supported way to go further is an SPFx header extension.
See: How to customise the SharePoint header.
2. Apply a coherent, accessible theme
A consistent colour theme across every site is what makes an intranet feel designed rather than assembled. The trap is accessibility - hand-picked colours often fail contrast checks. Generate a proper ramp from your brand colours and verify AA contrast before rolling it out.
See: How to apply a custom theme in SharePoint Online.
3. Make people findable
A modern staff directory - fast search, live presence, contact actions and org structure - turns a dead "People" page into something the whole organisation uses daily. And you can build it on data Microsoft 365 already holds, no separate HR list required.
See: Building a modern staff directory in SharePoint.
4. Bring calendars together
Events live in SharePoint lists, Exchange mailboxes, group calendars and external feeds. Overlaying them into one colour-coded view removes a daily friction point - and it's something SharePoint dropped when classic calendars were retired.
See: How to show multiple calendars in one SharePoint view.
Principles that keep it modern
- Consistency over novelty - the same header, theme and components everywhere.
- Accessibility - legible contrast, sensible type, keyboard-friendly.
- Speed - render content first, enrich (photos, presence) progressively.
- Least privilege - prefer SharePoint's own APIs; request only the Microsoft Graph scopes you actually need.
- Supported methods - SPFx web parts and extensions, not DOM hacks that break on the next Microsoft update.
The shortcut
Each of the four changes above is a build project on its own. SharePoint Kit packages all four as polished, secure web parts - Header, Theme, Directory and Calendar - installed on your tenant in minutes, with a 14-day free trial.