Erin Condren Life Planner Review

I purchased my first Erin Condren Life Planner last year in 2014. What originally drew me to the company’s planners was that the days were broken up into three categories: morning, day, and night. At the time, a planner that had an hourly schedule just didn’t work for my lifestyle and felt kind of intimidating to me. I was working a day job, but wanted my planner to keep track of blogging, as well as personal to-dos. This seemed like the perfect fit.

After falling in love with the Erin Condren Life Planner last year, it’s no surprise that I returned this year. And no surprise that I was (once again) ready to purchase on launch day! This year, I opted for their latest limited edition design featuring a rose gold coil and covers. Another change this year was the introduction of the horizontal layout. While the vertical layout is the classic Erin Condren design, the company took the need of its customers into consideration and created a horizontal layout. I was instantly drawn to this new design because I love having lines to write on and I always felt like my handwriting was a bit big for the vertical boxes.

If you haven’t checked out the Erin Condren Life Planner yet, I highly recommend it! While they may seem pricey, they are well worth the investment and will hold up all year long. It’s the perfect planner for displaying on your desktop so you can admire its beauty, but it’s also compact, meaning you can stash it in your handbag when you’re on the go.

One of the other fun things about these planners is that they are customizable. There are so many options for covers that you can personalize with your name, photos, and even your own designs. Last year, Erin Condren introduced interchangeable covers, so you can easily swap covers whenever you want something new! You no longer have to choose just one, which will make your decision to buy one that much easier.

Here’s a peek inside the 2015/2016 Erin Condren Life Planner:

At the time of the launch, there was only one cover option if you wanted to purchase a planner with the rose gold coil. On one hand, this is great because it means the planner is ready-to-ship, as it does not have any customization options. However, if you purchase a ready-t0-ship planner, Erin Condren does provide you with a coupon code to receive a free personalized cover. All you have to do is pay shipping!

For me, I’m not one who cares about having my name on the cover of the planner. And I actually really love the design of this cover and the quote: “And so the adventure begins.” Although you cannot tell in the photograph, the cover has a beautiful iridescence that I hadn’t noticed in the photos online.

The rose gold edition features a vellum cover page with rose gold foil design. It’s really a stunning detail that adds a special touch to the planner, I think!

Inside the Erin Condren Life Planner, you’ll find all the essentials, including a look at all the months ahead. I purchased a planner that also contains July through December of 2015 (in addition to all of 2016).

Another new addition this year? More pages for notes! Before each month, you will find a lined page on the left-hand side and, in true Erin Condren fashion, an inspirational quote on the right-hand side. The horizontal and vertical editions do have design differences. In the horizontal edition, you’ll find this agate, watercolor type of design throughout the planner. The colors in the horizontal edition are also a bit more muted than the vertical edition.

There aren’t many differences when it comes to the monthly spread in this year’s planner. It just has a cleaner look overall. Last year’s planner featured the inspirational quote on the monthly spread, which has now been moved (as seen in the previous photo).

The weekly spread in the new Erin Condren Life Planner is what I am really excited to start using! On the left-hand side, you will find Monday through Thursday, while Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are on the right. Each day features a lined section and a blank box. At the bottom of the right page, there is a lined section for notes and an unlined box for writing a “thankful thought.”

I noticed many people online questioning the addition of the “thankful thought” to this year’s planner. However, I think it’s a nice way to reflect on the week and jot down a few things you were grateful for. The vertical edition features the “thankful thought” box in the top left-hand corner of the weekly spread (which was previously occupied by a small monthly calendar).

The Erin Condren Life Planner always features some extra pages for jotting down notes! In this year’s planners, you will find the lined and unlined pages, as usual. Now, you’ll also find a few sheets of graph paper! I’m not sure what I’d use this for, but I know plenty of people will be pleased with this.

And of course, it’s not an Erin Condren planner without a few stickers, right? As always, you get a full sheet of birthday stickers, which also includes a VOTE sticker for the upcoming election. You’ll find another sheet of stickers that includes things like: day off, vacation, hair appointment, game day, doctor’s appointment, etc. And you also get two sheets of blank stickers in the same color schemes for you to write on as you wish!

The Keep It Together folder has had some improvements for this year’s planner. It’s meant to be sturdier, so it will hold all those papers you stuff inside! The folder is actually one of my favorite features of the planner because I like having a place to put loose pages and not have to worry about them falling out.

You also get the zip pouch, which includes a few goodies every year. This year’s Life Planner came with a sample sheet of the Do-It-All Dots, three referral cards, three compliment cards, and a sample coil clip. You’ll notice a few extra things in my zip pouch and that’s because I also have my gift tags from last year’s planner goodies inside, as well as the Daily Dots I purchased.

I had to snag a few extra things at the launch of the new Erin Condren Life Planner! I bought the new sticker book, which contains stickers for the planner itself, as well as some gift tags. I’m not huge on the addition of the gift tags because I won’t get much use out of them, but I won’t let them go to waste!

I also decided to purchase the new markers because I prefer these colors to last year’s and they come in a nifty plastic case.

One thing that some people have been concerned about was the quality of the rose gold coil. Will it hold up or will the coating flake off? Well, when I received my planner, I could already see that the coating wasn’t even and had seemed to wear off in places. Does it concern me? No, not really. Overall, the coil still looks beautiful in person. Hopefully it will withstand daily use over the next year and still look nice by then.

And there you have it! A look inside the 2015-2016 Erin Condren Life Planner!

Looking to buy your first Erin Condren Life Planner? You can save $10 with my referral link!

This is not a sponsored post. These items were purchased and reviewed honestly by The Haute Notes.
The Haute Notes makes a commission off sales purchased through the referral link.