I previously did a review of the horizontal Recollections weekly planner but wasn’t too impressed with it. However, the designs for this year are much nicer – including the updated horizontal version – so let’s take a look!
Quick facts
- Size: 7.5″ x 9.25″ high
- Coil binding
- Laminated cardstock cover (multiple designs to choose from)
- Dates at a glance
- Important dates
- Contacts
- Different pattern designs on the dividers for each month
- Colorful inside pages
- 2 page weekly spread (starts on Monday)
- 2 Page monthly calendar (starts on Sunday)
- Notes pages
- Tabs
Let’s take a closer look!
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The Cover
The inside layouts are nicer but I wasn’t really a fan of the covers:
The cover is cardstock with thick laminate. It held up ok in transit from the USA to Australia – better than another Recollections Planner I purchased in the past.
Overall, the laminate doesn’t feel as thick as some other planners such as Erin Condren.
Dates at a glance
There are 2 formats of this page style – one with the 1 page per year
And another with 1 year over 2 pages. This page layout is a bit odd. It gives you some room to write but I doubt it would be enough. This page might be good for circling dates you have holidays, that time of the month etc.
Important Contacts Page
I’m not sure why some planner companies still include these pages since most people just record this on their phone but the page is there if you need it. You could also re-purpose it into a password tracker by whiting out the existing text.
Monthly Calendar
Week starts on a Sunday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts on Monday)
I’m not normally someone that likes pastel colors but I actually like them in this planner. Simple, clean design and the colors aren’t as ‘in your face’ as the Erin Condren (going to be making a lot of comparisons in this post because they are quite similar planners).
One thing I don’t like about the monthly calendar though, is that they’ve split the boxes in 2 rather than re-starting numbering on the top row. If I use this calendar I’ll be whiting out the diagonal lines and dates and writing the dates on the top row (or using a date dot sticker). The Recollections planners have done this for years – I was really hoping this year would be the year they changed it :/
Weekly Planner
The title sections are blank so you can use them for whatever you like. If you get tired of writing out your subjects (or other headings), see this post for a tutorial on how to make header stickers.
The week starts on a Monday (not consistent with the weekly spread that starts on Sunday).
The colors used throughout this planner are pink, purple, blue and green. The green is my fav!
Love the font and the lined writing space and maximises the full width of the page.
Extras pages
Unlined, lined and graph notes pages
Tabs & Dividers
The tabs are large, easy to grip and laminated. The laminate cover extends beyond the tabs i.e. they’re protected from damage.
Different covers for each month:
Planner Stickers
The colors of the stickers match the colors of the pages in the planner. The usual stickers that come with the Recollections are: emoji, functional icon, decorative boxes, quote stickers, appointment labels and checklists.
Pocket folder
Pen Testing
The paper feels the same as the vertical Recollections Planner, so here is the pen test results from that review (which you can find here).
I tried various ballpoint, gel, fine tip and marker tip pens. The 3 marker pens (Uni Pis, Pure Color-F and Muji Hexa Pen) had some light ghosting but there was no ghosting for any of the other pens. And no bleed through for any! ?
I also did some highlighter and stamp swatches – no ghosting either.
However, as always, the MAMBI stamps bled through the page ?
Overall, one of the best pen test results of the 50+ planners I’ve reviewed! ?
Pros of the Recollections Planner
- Affordable
- Nice color scheme
- Variety of patterns on the tabs
- Includes stickers
- Built in pencil case
- Lined writing space in the weekly spread
- Functional weekly spread
Cons of the Recollections Planner
- Could be more durable e.g. tabs and the laminate cover
- Can only buy it from Michael’s in the USA
- The monthly calendar splits the last boxes into triangles rather than restarting numbering
- The start days aren’t consistent between the weekly spread and the monthly calendar
Would I use this planner?
I like horizontal weekly planners so major plus that this planner has lined writing space too.
I’m not a fan of the cover or the divider pages however, there are a lot of styles to choose from in the Recollections range (this one was the only one I was able to get at the time – I wish I’d waited for a prettier design but never mind).
Planner Reviews
- Arcing my Plum Paper Planner – everything you need to know if you’d like to try it yourself!
- Creating a custom, personalised planner with Agendio
- Get to Work Book Planner Review
Planning Tips:
- How to make planner stickers – creating perfectly proportioned shapes in Silhouette Studio (video tutorial)
- 50 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Planner
- 12 Different ways to plan blog posts using pen and paper
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