A planner for me has to either be super slim for portability or super fat for stuffability. I don't like the in-betweens, they seem like missed opportunities... with 30mm rings, the personal-size Norfolk Filofax was just too tempting!
Impulse shopping at its finest
Admittedly, this was a bit of an impulse buy. What can I say, it was Christmas day, not to mention it's been the first time I'd spent Christmas alone, so I needed a pick-me-up.
I've been eyeing this collection up since it hit the Filofax website. I've spent a few weeks ogling pics on Instagram, and I've watched every single video that's out right now on YouTube – standard – But I had decided that I wasn't going to invest as it doesn't have gold rings.
I've been completely spoilt by gold rings since buying the Centennial Original (personal size in charcoal) for my birthday in 2021. I honestly thought I'd never be able to purchase another planner again unless it had the same gold rings – which is weird for me because I'm not really a gold person.
However... Christmas day came, and I thought I was going to be okay...
It turned out to be a terrible day though, because seriously, what's the point in Christmas when you're nearly 40, childless (if you don't count your furbabies) and you're spending it by yourself? The only thing I could think of to make the day feel better was to blow a hundred quid on something pretty. It was a terribly delightful moment of weakness. So far I have no regrets.
Besides, a brand new planner will be like a brand new start to the new year – right? It made perfect sense at the time, I was under the influence of a bottle of Port.
My choice...
I've gone for the personal size in 'sage', which seems to be the favourite in the planner community from what I've seen online. I might have been persuaded to go for the lavender if it was spring or the almond if it was autumn. The lavender in particular is playing on my mind... Who knows, if they're still around come spring or autumn, my collection may expand – I'll probably need cheering up again mid-Feb.
I'm a crazy plant lady though, so 'sage' just made sense as an all-year-rounder. It looks like a pretty shade of green from what I can tell online, although I'm nervous to see if I'll like it in person. What I'm hoping for is a calming, muted colour with nature vibes to go with my current inserts, accessories and witchy-earth-girl personality.
I've always got on best with personal-sized planners. I like the fact that you can get the 'economy' pack of plain paper refills, which don't seem to be available in the other sizes. I also like that the personal size doesn't take up your entire desk when opened up like the A5, and I don't need the portability of the pocket anymore as I work from home.
(I have 2 A5 Filofaxes - My Aqua Chameleon, the original love of my life, and The Classic Croc, my dirty kinky affair! I'm currently using my Classic Croc to house important documents, but my poor Chameleon is boxed. I must come up with a new use for it for 2023 – if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments!)
The MAIN thing that convinced me to buy my new Norfolk planner though (aside from the bottle of Port and all the misery) was the opportunity to have 30mm rings in a personal-size planner. A planner for me has to either be super slim for portability or super fat for stuffability. I don't like the in-betweens, they seem like missed opportunities.
I'm also looking forward to finding out if all the extra pockets will be useful for me. I've been using my Centennial Original, and my pet peeve about the Originals is the useless (in my opinion) interior design...
I think the jot-pad slots at the back of the Originals are pointless, especially as they don't even sell replacements on the Filofax website. I also find the elastic band on the inside of the front cover to be a pointless feature as I've never found a legitimate use for it. Okay, rant over.
What I do like about the originals though is the flatability, the retro design and stitching, and the simple 'single piece of leather' design. Let's face it – they're just very cool. I'd be very interested to know your opinions on the Originals, so feel free to comment below!
You can watch my earlier rants on the Original Filofax – PART 1 and PART 2.
Back to The Norfolk...
I'll have a lot more to say about the Norfolk Filofax when I actually receive it.
You can expect a full Filofancy review...
(I've noticed I get more and more critical of Filofax purchases the older I get – in the early Filofancy days I was totally in love with all of them, and I gave orgasmic reviews, but the griping has increased over the years. I guess I just know what I want now, and boy, are my expectations high!)
In the meantime, feel free to enjoy some other Filofax reviews...
Let me know in the comments if there is anything in particular that you're interested in seeing on the blog, as I want to start posting more content, and it would be great to know what you want to see.
I'm also REALLY keen to hear from anyone who has purchased anything from the current Norfolk collection, or who is thinking about it, so please share your thoughts... And subscribe to the Filofancy blog to get notified of when I publish the review of my new Norfolk Filofax! Find me on Instagram and Youtube.
I can relate to all your points about the gold rings and about the original Filofax downsides 🙂 I also have bought actually a couple of Norfolk Filofaxes because I stumbled upon a shop with the a great selection of Filofaxes while I was traveling although I sort of thought that I will not buy these Norfolk organizers 😁
ReplyDeleteI would love to follow up and see how you set things up. I have an Almond in personal and Lavender in pocket so will keep my eye for the inspiration 😁
As a side note just wanted to say that I am glad to read a blog post as an alternative to the instagram and YouTube as this type of content is so hard to come by these days 💚
Hello Anonymous :)
DeleteThanks so much for taking the time to leave your comments, I do love a good comment! And thank you for your appreciation of me writing a blog post. You're right about instagram and Youtube taking over the online world, blogs are kind of old-fashioned now, at least the personal ones. But I do enjoy writing every now and then, and I intend to do more of it this year so subscribe if you'd like to stay in the loop.
I'm also going to have a go at putting a Youtube video together as I haven't really done those for years, and posting a bit more consistently on Instagram. Although, we make all the grand plans at the beginning of the year, and then real life gets in the way. So no promises :)
These Norfolks are rather lovely though. They feel very substantial in your hand because of the larger rings, I love that! But also, really comfy and down-to-earth somehow.
I hope that you get plenty of use out of yours! I'll look forward to your comments on my next blog post... it'll be fun showing how I've set mine up, it's looking pretty good. I'm waiting to receive some inserts I ordered to complete it before I do a video tour, but I might put the blog post out first.
Happy New Year to you!
Zara xx
Look forward to an update on your Norfolk, I love the look of the sage and all the accessories but feel I need to try a compact 🙈🙈, enjoy x
ReplyDeleteThe compacts are a great way to narrow down your focus onto the things that really matter in your planner. I used my sljmline for part of last year, but now I feel that's too small for my needs, although I'm still using it as a kind of extra notebook. My Norfolk review post was published today btw... enjoy! xx
DeleteI had the same problems with the Original covers 😉 rings too small, this stupid elastic on the left side.. but this gorgeous leather piece which opens up flat (and made in UK and not in China)! I solved the problem with the elastics ... I removed them! Now there are some holes but at least a flat surface. I bought the Centennial cover as well, gold rings and 25mm, I really loved it... but, I`m using FC Compact inserts because Personal are too slim for me, they fit perfectly up to the edge in any normal Original, but not in the Centennial one, they just added bigger rings but did not widen the cover... and now these inserts are hanging out at the edge. And I missed out on the Norfolk one, wanted to get Sage as well but these look sold out everywhere. Oh well, waiting for the next unicorn with gold big rings 😉
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for your comments :) I never thought of removing the elastic from the Originals, good thinking – glad it has worked for you! You might not have been happy with the Norfolk Sage to be honest, as the rings are even bigger than Centennial, and I think your FC inserts might have hung out the edge too. Gold rings are just so lovely aren't they? We may have to wait a while though... ;)
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