Planner Peace? How Sticking to a Color Palette Made Planning So Much Easier
Planner peace? Do we know her?!
I'm happy to say that I do.
We've all been there. You just bought a new sticker pack, markers, and planner cards thinking "This is it! This will be my planner setup and I'll stick to it. This time it will work." Only you start planning things out in your weekly spreads and something is just not right. You're not loving how the colors are working together or maybe the theme you've chosen just doesn't feel like you and before you know it you're back at square one, reevaluating your whole planner system again.
Trust me, I've done this more times than I'd like to admit and I was sick of it. I wanted to come up with a fool-proof system to get my planner decor just right.
Being an Interior Designer by day, I approach my planner decor in a very similar way to that of a well-designed room. And in design, you always start with a color palette. So that's what I did. Check out my planner color palette below and keep reading to see how I came up with it!
Pick Your Main Color
To get your color palette started, you'll want to think about your main color(s) first. This could be your favorite color, a color you use a lot already, or (and what I suggest) the color of your actual physical planner. My planner cover is a soft, pink-beige color - shown in the top middle of my palette.
Don't Forget Neutrals
Most likely, you'll use white paper to print your inserts and use black pens to write in your spreads so these are also key colors to consider for your palette. Every palette needs the lightness of white and the contrast that black adds but if you like to print on different colored paper or write with colorful pens, that's great too. For me, black and white were both predominant colors I use often because I enjoy a high-contrast, bolder design. Besides my paper and pens, I brought these colors in with black dot stickers and hand-drawn floral stickers.
Coordinating Tones
Now comes the hard part - Picking accent colors that coordinate and bring it all together. I recommend picking 2 to 4 accent colors (in addition to black and white) for a well-rounded palette that isn't too restrictive. Nature/fashion/art/interiors/etc. are all great sources of inspiration to find colors that work really well together. For example, I found a gorgeous statement marble, which you can see in the image above (bottom middle), that I quickly became obsessed with. It worked with my planner cover and also spoke to EO Edits' edgy and stylish aesthetic. With this as my inspiration, I was easily able to pull out colors from the marble to find accent colors.
With my inspiration and accent colors picked, I then like to think of ways I would typically incorporate these in my planner. Of course, I use planner cards to add a bit of color and personality to my planner and I make sure these fit with the palette of my planner. Also, I often use highlighters or dot stickers to call out an important appointment or all-day event. Faber Castell's Warm Grey III 272 brush pen is the perfect soft gray highlighter for me. I also found The Planner Spot's transparent drops and dots taupe stickers matched this soft gray perfectly. I even liked the marble texture so much, I printed it on sticker paper and use it almost like washi tape to add a touch of decor to my spreads.
The Results
And that's it! Now everything you buy and bring into your planner, whether it be new sticky notes, pens, or whatever, you have a well-established palette that you can use to make sure it will all go together. It takes the guesswork out of things but also serves as a vetting process so you're not spending frivolously on something that won't end up working and in turn, you won't end up using. Alternatively, it also serves as a way to round out your planner supplies. Make sure you have pens, markers, stickers, and washi tape in each of your palette colors so this palette can really shine for you.
Using this method, I find I'm able to plan much easier and quicker too. I know exactly which stickers to grab to bring attention to a meeting I have on Monday or I know when to grab my warm gray brush pen and put that to work. My decor is simple but effective and just works! I'm eager to use my planner and excited to flip it open to the current week and see it all come together. I don't feel the need to change it beyond seeing what else I can do with it. To me, that in and of itself is Planner Peace.
-Em
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