Noticed how most planners and organizers in the market today are designed with strict formulations that it is tough to find a way when you need a page to note down your travel itinerary?
You are not alone. A contributor on Medium once pointed out how planners “have always been difficult” for them “because they never seem to have everything [they] need.”
Exactly. And that’s where your Erin Condren customizable notebooks step into the scene. Rather than a planner that dictates you what you write, these notebooks are designed almost like a blank canvas, giving their users opportunities to explore around. Is it a travel itinerary or a weekly meal plan for your kids? Here’s your guide to how you can further customize your DIY notebooks.
Top Design Ideas for DIY Notebook Customization
1. Custom Calendar Pages
Let’s start with the very reason you’re jotting down on your planner. It’s the calendar. But when it’s a custom, DIY notebook, where do you find yourself?
This is why you must design calendar pages that are easy to understand for you. This way, you can keep track of your appointments, deadlines, personal goals, shopping lists, notes, and ideas. When was the last time you missed a meeting because you couldn’t find where you put the date in your planner?
2. Bullet Journal
Erin Condren’s customizable notebooks have pages that let you turn those into what makes you comfortable at the moment. Whether you need a format for your workout or a smashing daily to-do list, these notebooks have spaces for you.
3. Artist Sketchbook
Sometimes, planners also act as notepads, while in class, right? And when the professor gets too dragging, you simply cannot resist the urge to doodle or sketch. The best planners have pages that let you do those, with no prejudice!
4. Travel Journal
The best planners are laden with pages where you won’t just journal, but post tickets, stickers, and mini-photos from your trip. Sure, it’s like pushing your planner to be a scrapbook, but aren’t the best ones one-stop?
5. Vision Board
Moreover, you may also design your planners to be a vision board, so the next moment you get invited to a business opportunities meeting, you only need to pull out your notebook and read what’s in there: your dreams and aspirations.
6. Baby Journal
When you dedicate one of the planners you’ve won from Starbucks as your baby journal, make sure to leave pages for what you’re thankful for, workouts, tips for other parents, and of course, pictures of you together with your bundle of joy.
7. Recipe Journal
The best DIY notebooks are filled with pages where you can be your inner chef and just own the moment, sharing food you want to cook for your friends and family. Let’s go!
Tips From the Experts
Compiling more tips, but this time from those who’ve earned years of experience in this habit:
- Choose the right base notebook: Before diving into decorating, choose a notebook that suits your needs and style. Spiral notebooks are ideal for flexibility and laying flat, while bound notebooks offer a cleaner, more classic look. Consider the paper quality, too.
- Use washi tape for colorful borders: Washi tape is a DIYer’s dream: affordable, easy to use, and available in endless colors and patterns. You can create stripes, borders, or even geometric patterns on your cover or page edges.
- Go for a collage design!: For a trendy, scrapbook-inspired notebook, gather clippings from magazines, stickers, or printed photos. Think of a theme—travel, fashion, music, nature—and arrange your images in a collage across the cover.
- Don’t be afraid to use paint gels or paint markers aside from your usual pens: The more playful you get with your planner, the more realistic those goals on it will be.
- Set up a themed tab system: Notebooks aren’t just about the outside. You can customize the inside too. Create your tab system using sticky tabs or cardstock cutouts. Then, label each section clearly, and add mini doodles or icons to make flipping through fun and intuitive.
- Use the pocket folders or envelopes well: Just like how those extra pockets in luggage are there for a reason, so are those extra pockets in your planner. Use them well.
- Personalize the cover with your name or quote: This should be self-explanatory. Your planner is yours and shouldn’t be there to please your professor or your husband.
- Make it interactive: Tape extra sheets to the inside edges of your notebook to add flip-out pages. Use them for weekly planners, mood trackers, goal-setting, or fun challenges.
Overall, it’s as simple as saying, “Make it yours!” or, as Burger King says, “Do it your way.” Who knows? You can turn this into your new DIY project, too! When you’ve got a blank canvas with your planner, unleash your creativity!