I recently got caught up in the Hobonichi craze and settled on the Hobonichi Cousin Avec. I originally wanted to give the Hobonichi Weeks a try, but it didn’t have the weekly spread that the Cousin offers. You see, I came from using the Passion Planner and the weekly layout was my favorite spread. I am incredibly happy with my Cousin, but I keep seeing all of these adorable pictures of the Hobonichi Weeks, especially all the sticker kits! So, I finally caved and purchased one!
Rowena from Sojourner’s posted a picture of a Natural Leather cover on Instagram, and I fell in love. I knew I needed to add it to my collection, so this is all the reason I needed to buy my very first Hobonichi Weeks!
I hopped on Jet Pens to see what I could find. In the past, I have ordered from the Hobonichi website, but I didn’t have the patience to wait for shipping, and the planner was selling out fast so I tossed the first pretty one I could find in my cart and hit the checkout button!
Once I received the planner I realized there were 3 things I wish I knew before purchasing the Hobonichi Weeks.
3 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE BUYING A HOBONICHI WEEKS
1. Covers
I had no idea there was more than one material for the Hobonichi Weeks Cover. (This information can all be found on the Hobonichi Website, but I didn’t take the time to research).
(Picture provided by Jet Pens)
Rayon – The Rayon cover is a coarsely textured hardcover.
Polyester – Polyester is a hardcover that features designs created by artists.
PVC – PVC is a soft cover with a white line on the left.
Leather – Leather Hardcover, made of cow leather.
Bow & Tie – I didn’t mention this one in my video because I got it confused with the Polyester cover at the time, but it’s also an option.
Mega – This planner comes in Rayon and PVC.
Polyurethane – Polyurethane is a soft cover, which happens to be the one I purchased. It is flexible and has a smooth texture. Described as being easy to flip through, but it does not lie flat on its own. (I learned this one the hard way!)
This cover gets pretty dirty!
So many options!
With all of these different cover options, I really wish there was a store that I could walk into and touch each planner. I would not have chosen the Polyurethane cover had I known better. Honestly, I didn’t even realize there were so many cover types until I finally decided to purchase one.
2. Smaller than it looks
The Hobonichi Weeks is a lot smaller in real life than it looks on Instagram and YouTube. I write small, but this is really small. Not only is the planner very narrow, but the grid size is also only 3.55 mm. I think because people decorate with so many stickers, I assumed it was going to be a lot bigger. Or maybe they just zoom in tight for their videos and pictures?
After seeing it in person, I didn’t think the size would be suitable for a financial planner, so I started using it as a health and fitness journal.
3. Where did the grid go?
Lastly, where did the grid go in the Hobonichi Weeks?! I didn’t realize that the left page didn’t have the grid. What we see in pictures and videos is just the ghosting from the previous page. This helps guide my writing, but if I’m not in a well-lit area, I can’t see the grid, and I love my grids! Another thing to note is that the grid in the Weeks is slightly smaller than in the Cousin. They are 3.55mm vs 3.7mm (as mentioned above).
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So, I hope this helps anyone out there who is purchasing a Hobonichi Weeks. I wish I would have done a little more research before making the plunge.