12 Tips to Make Your Bullet Journal Stunning
I’ve decided to make another bullet journal post to add to my last one. One of the most common struggles I keep hearing from bullet journal beginners is that their bullet journal doesn’t look good enough.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer that your bullet journal doesn’t have to be beautiful to be an amazing tool in your life. But if you’re aching for better looking spreads and a nicer design, I’ve got some advice to help make it happen.
1. Use a Color Scheme
If you’d like to add some color to your bullet journal, try to choose a color scheme, and then stick with it throughout the spread. You can choose a different group of colors for each month, and even each spread, or use the same pallet for your whole journal.
2. Choose a Theme
There are many different styles out there when it comes to bullet journaling. Next week, I’ll be making a post on various ones. A few common ones that people use include minimalist ones, floral, mountainous, clouds, intricate artsy, as well as others.
3. Pair Different Font Sizes and Styles
Having more contrast in your lettering will make it look better. A good example would be pairing a large bold font with a small cursive one. It’s better to avoid fonts that look too similar in both size and style.
4. Learn Lettering for Nice Fonts
This one’s definitely optional and not necessary for a pretty bullet journal, but it may make number three easier. Many people love the satisfaction of writing beautiful titles and headings on their spreads, and knowing hand lettering techniques can make bullet journaling all the more enjoyable. Though, it is not required for nice spreads.
5. Try Using Different Shapes for Headers
Twenty Something Meltdown
Banners, clouds, and flags are all common shapes used for headers, but you can use any other shapes to add a unique touch or as part of your theme.
6. Add Boxes to Your Spreads
Bullet Journal 101
Boxes are a simple way to organize little sections within a spread. They’re perfect for the lists or notes that you don’t know where to put, and can make your spreads appear cleaner.
7. Fill Empty Spaces with Small Icons
If you don’t know what to do with empty space in your spreads, and would like to add a little something, small icons can often do the trick. These can be either hand-drawn doodles or stickers, and usually appear in bullet journals that aren’t overly minimalist.
8. Include Photos
For large areas of empty space, you can print out photos and paste them in. This is especially a good idea if you’re not very artsy, but need to fill up the space. Try to go for photos that either fit your color scheme, or are black and white.
9. Use Dividers to Separate Larger Sections
This could easily be just a bold, solid line stretching across the page, or one that is more intricate with arrows, swirls, or floral designs. Having dividers can make your spreads look a lot cleaner and more organized.
10. Print Out Text and Spreads to Paste in
If you’d like to have beautiful headers, titles, and incorporate nice fonts, but you don’t have the materials or time to learn hand lettering, an alternative would be printing out the text and pasting it in your bullet journal. This can save you much needed time, and also works for a variety of spreads, such as ones with a grid needed, or a year at a glance spread.
11. Devote Pages to Artwork
Moorea Seal
Sometimes, while flipping through a journal, it’s nice to come across a page or two that are entirely decorated artwork, and may include a quote or two. If you’re not too artsy, you can print out any kind of text or images you’d like to include, and provide yourself with an inspirational page, or one that introduces a new section or month in your bullet journal.
12. Cover Up Mistakes
No one likes to see mistakes in their bullet journal, but they’re unavoidable. Luckily, there are ways to fix them, such as covering them with stickers or washi tape, or pasting in a whole new sheet of paper if the spread looks bad. For smaller mistakes, you can use correction fluids like white out, or white gel pens.
Thanks very interesting blog!