This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
We've covered notebooks before, but there are so many beautiful ones available and they're just so covetable. Also, this round up features only the best – the most luxurious, the most decadent. Okay, so the list might be more for drooling over than for clicking 'buy', but it's nice to daydream once in a while, right?
1. While researching luxurious notebooks (it's a hard life), I stumbled across the phrase 'soft leather' fairly often, but there is something undeniably classy about this journal by Aspinal of London. Perhaps it's the soft grey-pink colour ('Deer Safiano' according the website), perhaps it's the chunky shield-shaped lock. Either way, it makes me think of preppy Ivy League types and matching luggage. The journal is refillable which, as it costs £175, is pretty essential, and it comes with a 144-page refill to start you off.
2. Back down at the 'actually affordable' end of the luxury notebook market, we have this beauty from Castelli. The Arles Quarto notebook is 21 x 26cm and is refillable with either lined or plain pages. It comes in a range of colours including indigo blue, coral red, pink, purple and baby blue (pictured). The notebook costs £23.50 and you can personalise it with two lines of text on the front cover for a further £4.
3. The Graphia Italian notebook has a soft cover, a long tie fastening and 200 cream lined pages, which are suitable (thick enough) for a fountain pen. It's handmade in Florence and is available from The Journal Shop for £35.95.
4. This red and pink journal / sketchbook is handmade in the UK by artisan bookbinder Susan Green. It features a goatskin cover, hot pink stitching and pages are quality cartridge paper, suitable for sketching, mixed media and fountain pens. The journal is refillable and available in several different colours and sizes. This A5 version costs £99 from Bound By Hand.
5. The Ebb & Flow double notebook wrap sets include two A6 notebooks tucked inside a soft nubuck cover. The sets come in different 'themes', which include words such as 'work and play' or 'inside and outside' combined with a specfic colour. If you prefer, you can personalise the theme and choose your own colour. The words will be displayed on the notebooks and debossed onto the wrap. £55 from Bookery.