Would it be weird if I described the personal-sized Filofax Norfolk in 'sage' as being... cosy? I look at it and immediately my mind goes to cosy knitted jumpers, cups of tea and snuggling up on the sofa with my dog and my cat. It feels like I might have found my planner soulmate.
If you read the post about my Port-fuelled Christmas Day impulse purchase of this planner, you'll know that I wasn't planning on getting one...
...Sure, I'd lusted after the collection, done my research and checked my bank balance several times to see if an extra hundred quid had miraculously found its way into my account (it hadn't) – but I had made a firm decision that I wasn't going to do it.
Well, I did it. Clearly.
To be honest I was nervous. What if I didn't even like it? What if it was a ghastly green brick? What if it arrived faulty like the birthday-gift-to-myself Centennial Filofax did? What if, God forbid, it felt like a waste of money?!
I've never felt like any Filofax I've ever bought was a waste of money because I've been so absolutely in love with them all. But I'm older, and so much more cynical now. This purchase could literally ruin 2023 for me!
Okay, I'm being melodramatic, and as we all know, it has all turned out fine. Aside from the fact that the inserts I purchased from Filofax on the 18th Dec, still haven't arrived, and I wanted them for the 1st of January... goddammit.
Let's get into the review!
Design inspiration and vibe
Filofax on their blog says, 'Norfolk is a rural county in the East of England, known for its community spirit and easy-going way of life.'
This Filofax definitely has a countryside vibe. It feels down-to-earth, friendly, warm and welcoming, like a good novel in front of a fireplace with a blueberry muffin!
Leather and structure
I love the cushioned matt leather and how comfortable it feels to hold. The leather feels soft and flexible, but there is plenty of structure to the planner with a slight bit of padding – it's definitely not floppy, but it's not stiff either. It feels very well made.
The strap is lovely and wide, which makes opening and closing the planner feel very satisfying. It's also nice and long so the planner doesn't feel tight when stuffed.
You can see in the pic below how much space the strap allows, it's not tight, and because it's also quite stiff it allows the planner to hold it's shape when closed even when it's not full.
The planner rings
Bringing me to the rings... they are a generous 30mm in the personal size, which is wonderful!
I've noted that the larger rings don't cause the paper inserts or the dividers to be pushed outside the edge of the planner, even though the width of the planner is the same as my Originals...
...You can see in the picture further down how the inserts will stop at the edge of the planner from the centre of the rings, which is where the inserts will be pushed out the furthest.
It just means that there's no outer margin of leather like in the others. Of course, this may mean that the inserts are slightly less protected, but this doesn't bother me as I'll be using it at home anyway.
I thought I'd miss the gold rings that I fell head-over-heels for when I bought my Centennial, but actually, the silver ones go really nicely with the cool sage, and I don't think gold would have looked right.
They do seem more flexible than my Centennial rings though, and I have to press down on both of the end buttons together to work the mechanism and open them, whereas with my Centennial I can just press down on one end. This doesn't feel like an inconvenience though, and really it's how we should be operating them for a longer life.
Design features
Because the leather is so soft, I suspect that over time the card slots may become looser as the leather stretches depending on what you use them for. I don't see that as being a problem for me though, as I'll probably be using them to home sticky notes and bits and bobs. Plus, once the Filofax is closed, nothing will be falling out.
The inside zip pocket isn't gusseted, but it does feel pretty generous. I have nothing really to say about the other inside pockets, they seem fine for extra stickers etc.
I'm not sure what I'll be using the full-length back pocket for. It has a very structured feel rather than floppy. I think this will be good to protect paper or letters and stop them from crumpling or creasing in the pocket.
I don't think I'd want to put anything in the back pocket that would cause lumps and bumps for fear of denting the perfectly flat front and back covers as the leather is so beautifully soft – but that's probably just me being precious because it's brand new.
I've watched some videos and in one it was noted that the positioning of the pen loop on the pocket size planner was not well thought-out at all as it makes the pen sit behind the inserts. It also interfered with the lady's divider tabs because the loop is pointed inward instead of out.
On the personal size Norfolk, the issue is similar but not as pronounced. The pen does get in the way of inserts as it sits behind them, and more so if you use thicker pens. You can see in the picture below what I mean...
...however, keep in mind that when the rings are full some of the inserts to the front and back will lie further in as the rings curve, and this does allow for a pen to sit more comfortably without leaving a gaping gap at the back, especially if you're using a thinner pen like mine.
I use a thin, discrete mechanical pencil, so it's not a problem for me. I've also tried my Filofax pen from the Centennial collection and the issue seemed very slight. This might annoy some people though.
Considering that there is so much space inside the strap when the planner is closed, I do think that Filofax could have designed the pen loop so that it faced outward. But instead, they chose aesthetic over function as they clearly wanted to have the little strip of leather to cover the elastic of the pen loop.
I think that many people will appreciate the fully elasticated pen loop that enables us to insert fatter pens – however, with the pen having to sit behind the paper in the planner, fatter pens may get in the way, so it's a bit of a contradiction.
You'd think by now that Filofax would have the functionality of their planners down to a T. However, I think this might actually be my only gripe about the Filofax Norfolk, and it's more on the behalf of those of you who may find this feature-flop annoying. Personally, I'm not affected by it because of my choice of pen – and I do actually really like how neat it looks with the leather flap covering the elastic.
'Flatability' and weight
As my Filofax is brand new it doesn't lay completely flat like the Originals do, but I think in time that it might. It certainly lays flat enough to please most 'flatability' seekers.
Once you have filled the pockets on the right it'll also add the bit of weight it needs to lie flat, and as you trun pages, they will contribute to flatability too.
Considering that this is a chunky monkey, I don't feel like it's overly heavy. Obviously, that could change depending on what you decide to put in it.
It is slightly bigger than other personal-sized Filofaxes because of the larger rings, but it still feels and looks pretty compact to me.
