I have always wanted an aqua malden. I missed the boat on them because I honestly did not really care to invest in something that I wasn’t sure about yet. I have used planners forever but a malden seemed like a very pricey investment and when the aqua maldens were on sale I thought geez they are beautiful but goodness they are expensive. I kick myself each and everyday for that thought process because I always come back to looking at photos on pinterest and just drooling about having one in my life. Back in April I was at an event and I ran into a woman who had painted her Kate Spade Wellesley planner and it really looked fantastic. It looked like the planner was intended to be that color. I immediately began researching the paint and how to go about doing it. The process seemed simple and relatively inexpensive. I of course didn’t pick up my Malden immediately and start to paint instead I went with a less expensive planner, my faux Daytimer Malibu. I loved the planner I even have a review on it, but I could stand to change the color and I found a beautiful kelly green color. I was just so impressed with how it turned out!! I couldn’t stop touching it and playing with it! I used it and found that it did not change the texture or feel. It did not peel or crack or add a funny smell to it. I endlessly looked at all the pictures again of the aqua malden and tried to find a shade closest to it so that I could change my Malden and finally have the planner I have been lusting over.
The supplies are really very simple, you will need a foam tip disposable brush that you can pick up at any craft store. I used the gift box blue paint and a satin finish to help seal everything together. I don’t officially know if it is required to add the top sealer but it’s how to I like to ensure that everything is properly sealed and finish. I don’t know if the paint will crack or peel with or with out but I do like the satin finish. To begin you want to put a small amount of paint onto the brush and make small circles onto the planner. It may look messy and scary but I promise the end product will be well worth it! 
You can seen that only after one coat it looks like maybe this project wasn’t such a good idea but I promise if you stick with it you will most likely be fine. I went from the darker purple color to a lighter aqua color so the amount of coats of paint required are more, about 4-5 to be exact. I initially thought that I could save the stitching and use a small brush to go around the stitching. It looked ok but then in different lighting I could see the purple trying to peek out from behind the threading so I needed to go back and paint over the stitching which is fine because I LOVE how it all turned out. The paint does not have an overwhelmingly strong smell and I wouldn’t say that the smell of the Malden is gone. It still has the softness and I am still able to bend and move the Malden so the floppiness is not gone from the planner. I took the plunge because I was hoping for something amazing and I feel I got what I wanted. Something in the future that I look forward to is trying to paint things onto the planner, add spots or patterns and mix colors to make planners much for unique to me!! It’s a fairly exciting journey to take to achieve something that is truly yours!! 
Just to prove to you that the stitching idea didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted to turn out here is an unclose shot. I did my best to paint around but you can still see how it is peeking through with the purple color. I believe from photos that I have seen online the stitching is white but again this is a DIY project and I must say I am very grateful to have found the paint and the idea to be able to create this planner transformation. In the picture below you can see the original color and that it is a beautiful egg plant purple. I loved it initially but then put it aside after last fall and started to lose some of my love for it. So when I started changing it I could feel in my heart that I would be in love with the new color!! The inside when painting is really no different than painting the outside. The only hiccup I found was around the zipper. The zipper is a material and so the paint gets really absorbed into it. I needed almost 8 or 9 good heavy swipes of paint in order to cover up the color. It works out fine just keep adding paint onto it. I also recommend letting every layer dry fully before adding more paint. I say this for both the zipper portion and the leather cover. I found that if you do not wait between layers the paint will just keep swirling and you end up with a lot of paint on your brush and then unable to add more color to the leather. Have no fear the acrylic paint dries almost instantly so luckily this does not take a very long time. I like watching a really long youtube video or putting on some Netflix and it helps pass the time. 
Before putting the satin finish onto both the inside and outside I did give it a good 24 hours just in case. I also waited about two days after applying the satin finish before filling the planner with paper. I know it’s hard not to use it right away but I used caution just in case and didn’t want to ruin my hard work. To the left you can see how gorgeous this color is unclose!! If you would like to see the final product I have a video !! I also share what inserts I will be using inside of the planner. Have you painted your planner? Do you want to? Please share!!
