11 Ways To Decorate A Bullet Journal That You’ve Missed
When I first started bullet journaling, my pages looked less impressive than I would have wanted. To be honest, they were dull and boring! Even though I used plenty of markers, there was just something missing.
The one thing that was on my mind was, how do I decorate bullet journal pages? There are many ways to decorate a page simply by using a variety of different supplies such as stickers, Washi tapes, fancy fonts, stamps, doodling, and many more sneaky tips.
If you’re in the same situation as I was, luckily for you I researched and came across plenty of ways to make your bullet journal look pretty.
Here are the best ones that will take bullet Journaling to a new level and increase your experience.
1. Stick To a Color Theme
This is the greatest tip that I’ve found that will make your bullet journal look extremely beautiful and that’s by using a pastel color scheme.
This consists of light shades of yellow, baby blue, pink, peach, lavender, mauve, and periwinkle.
With this particular combination, you can create gorgeous spreads!
Take a look at this spread that uses pastel colors:
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2. Use Markers
I’ve mentioned earlier that the only thing I used was markers but here’s the thing, I was using them wrong.
There’s plenty of ways to use markers and highlights to increase the ascetic appeal of a bullet journal.
Rather than just using them in to write words, you can use a marker to create a border, give certain fonts a shadow, draw lines on the page.
You can also highlight certain passages in your spreads to make it stand out.
3. Colored Paper
I’ve recently learned this trick of using colored paper that’s torn in one corner and then you take another white piece of paper and stick it on top (you can just use the paper on its own).
This sort of gives a cool effect to your journal. Textured paper, patterned paper, brown wrap paper are all great to use.
You could also try to stick a piece of black paper on the page and use a white gel pen to write things on it. This tip is a great way to be more creative and you’ll be surprised to see how interesting the black and white gel pen effect is!
4. Stickers
This is another great way to try especially if you’re not great at drawing. Using stickers will make your journal look incredibly pretty.
In fact, I ended up buying this pack of flower stickers from Etsy and although they were cheap, I was impressed with the quality.
Stickers can definitely be used in many ways and they’re also ideal for keeping a bullet journal theme. It’s also the lazy girl’s way (that’s me!) to make a bullet journal to good.
There are also stickers for a yearly spread with custom numbers and header stickers which include the days of the week. This will make it easier for you to decorate your journal without taking that extra time to write them out every day.
5. Washi Tape
Washi tape is one of the most common ways to decorate your bullet journal because it’s so versatile. There’s plenty of ways to use it from creating borders, fixing bullet journal mistakes, sticking pictures, color code pages, tab divider, or to add some color to a bland page.
What I love the most about washi tapes is the colors and patterns that they come in.
Depending on the set you get, you’ll be impressed with the quality and durability of them. Another thing is that washi tapes are really cheap and you’ll find it really difficult to actually finish them which is fun!
6. Use Watercolors
Watercolor paintings and splashes can make your spreads look artistic and creative. If you love to paint, using watercolors will give you a range of different things to try.
My only suggestion is to not use watercolors directly on your bullet journal paper but rather do your painting on thick paper and stick it in your bullet journal. This way you won’t have to worry about the pages bleeding or getting messed up.
But if you’re planning to do a light watercolor wash, look for a bullet journal with strong enough paper that can hold the watercolors.
Another brilliant thing about watercolors is that even if you’re not good at drawing, it can really make your work look good.
Here are a few watercolor techniques you can try in your bullet journal:
7. Splatter Dots
If you just can’t seem to paint or draw yet and you’re not confident to try it in your journal, then here’s another easy trick you can use.
Simply dip your paintbrush in acrylic or watercolor paints and use the tip of your finger to run the bristles. This will leave a lovely spray of paint on the page.
You could also use the rubber end of a pencil or q-top, dip in paint, and then do a random arrangement of dots on the page.
8. Learn Fancy Fonts
At one point, I was really fed up with the way my boring spreads turned out despite using a few decorative tips, it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be and then I realized it was my handwriting that had a huge contribution to the way a spread turned out.
When you change the headings and titles on your spreads, this can make a huge difference.
My suggestion would be to learn hand lettering! You’ll instantly see a difference in the quality of your bullet journal spreads.
Here’s a useful guide to hand lettering that will teach you different styles to make your writing and fonts look better:
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9. Try Stamps
Using stamps will be a good idea if you don’t like any of the above options.
There’s plenty of options you can get from flowers, leaves, planets, to even alphabet stamps that can be used to letter words.
Stamps are incredibly fun to use and there are ways to make your own stamps! You’ll also find many custom stamps on sites like Etsy if you’re looking for specific bullet journal stamps.
10. Learn To Doodle
The last thing you can do to decorate a bullet journal page is to learn how to doodle. This will indeed help you in the long run to create your own custom spreads and designs.
Little doodles of flowers, leaves, and other cute things can really uplift a spread. You’ll also see many spreads have doodles on them.
However don’t let this scare you, there are many doodle ideas already out there you can use. My one tip would be to use doodle reference sheets you get you accustomed to drawing easy doodles. This will teach you the basics of how to draw them as you learn from copying them in your own journal.
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Make sure to start off with small doodles. This will boost your confidence in drawing and late on you can try bigger drawings.
11. Pictures
When there are blank spaces in your journal, I always find that using pictures from magazines, printouts, or image quotes are incredibly useful.
You can also include photos from your real life to give it a personal feel. Maybe memorable photos from recent trips or you can even include a mini vision board in your journal.
Conclusion
Decorating a bullet journal is really easy as you’ve seen above. You just have to know what and how to do and I hope we explained it well to you.
If there are any questions or other ways to decorate a bullet journal that we’ve missed, then feel to let us know in the comments below so we can share it with others!
Nice website to use. Very helpful.
I’m really glad you found this helpful! Thanks 🙂
Im really thinking about getting a bullet journal now! It looks so fun and calming. This website was so helpful!!