Fan Friday | Meet Monica Romano

happyplaceplanning
4 days ago
3 min read

✨ Guest Feature: Meet Monica Romano (@romoplans)

We’re so excited to introduce this week’s guest feature — Monica Romano from South Carolina! Monica’s planning journey is a perfect example of how creativity, function, and joy can come together through decorative planning.

📖 How It All Started

Monica has always been a planner at heart — even as a student, she loved her academic planners and the feeling of transferring every deadline and date into them. Fast forward to 2018, life had brought some big changes: she had just welcomed her daughter and started a new position at work. Looking for a way to stay organized (and sane!) as a new mom and leader, a friend suggested she try planning again.

After some searching online, Monica stumbled upon the world of decorative planning — and the rest is history! “It helped me not only get my life together,” she says, “but also gave me a creative outlet that I desperately needed.”

💕 Planning with Stickers

Monica began using stickers in 2018 and placed her very first PlannerKate order in 2019. Her style can best be described as decorative and functional — she loves her planner to look beautiful, but it also has to work hard for her. “I need to have room for all my lists, to-dos, and white space to add things as they come up,” she explains.

Her current go-to planner is the MakseLife Vertical, which she loves for its blend of goal setting and planning. “It gives me a blank slate each week, with plenty of room and those helpful lines to keep everything looking great.”

🩷 Why She Loves PlannerKate

When asked what she loves most about PK stickers, Monica didn’t hesitate: “So many things! I love that they’re removable — I never get them straight on the first try! And the variety is amazing. From scripts to kits to functional stickers, there’s something for every type of planner.”

She also appreciates that the kits are available by individual sheets, so she can get exactly what she needs. Her favorite colorway? The PK Rainbow — perfect for matching any spread. She’s also a big fan of the journaling label add-ons, which add variety to her layouts.

Here's a peek at our most recent PK Rainbow stickers!

As for favorite designs, Monica’s heart belongs to fall kits. “Fall is my favorite time of year, and the designs always capture the essence of the season perfectly.”

Here's a peek at our fall vault kits!

🗓️ How She Plans

Monica primarily uses her stickers for weekly and monthly spreads, where she blends decorative and functional elements for a cohesive look. She even uses leftover stickers in her meal planning notebook — a creative way to make the most of every sheet!

Over time, her style has evolved from fully decorative spreads in a Happy Planner to a more balanced approach. “Now, I have a really good mix of decorative and functional,” she says. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

🧺 A Peek Into Her Routine

Monica keeps her planning process simple and streamlined with the help of PK binders and dividers. “When I get new kits, I file them in my kit binder, and each week I just pull out what I need — my kit, my functional stickers, and I’m ready to plan.”

Her October monthly spread is a great example of her style. Using Kit 745 in her MakseLife planner, she combined page 1 of the monthly kit with journaling label add-ons and functional stickers to pull together a cohesive look. “I love all the colors in this kit,” she says. “It brings together all my favorites in one place — perfect for planning out October!”

💬 A Final Word

When she’s not planning, Monica loves exploring new ways to use planners and notebooks to bring more joy and organization into her life. “I love planners and notebooks — they truly make me happy.”