A Dutch door in bullet journaling is a fun and creative technique where you cut sections of your journal pages to create a unique layered effect. This allows you to view multiple spreads simultaneously, making it easier to track and cross-reference information without flipping back and forth between pages.

The classic one is cut horizontally to look like a literal Dutch door where you can see the top part of the next page. As this idea evolves, the bullet journaling community have come up with more creative ways to use a Dutch door which can now also look vertical to split the pages.

Typically, the top or side portion of the pages is trimmed, and the remaining sections are used for various trackers, lists, or weekly spreads. This method not only enhances the visual appeal of your journal but also boosts its functionality, helping you stay organised and efficient in your planning.

It’s also just such a great way to make your pages look more fun and to break them up a bit. Personally, keeping my spreads visually appealing and interesting is important for me!

Here are some of my bullet journal spreads where I used Dutch doors to keep my spreads organised and playful.

This spread was made using our Hinoki Into the Song tapes. The Dutch doors were used to reveal the pink pages underneath to add some visual interest to the page.

Here is a weekly spread using our Neko Days travel notebook gift set! The cat on the roof washi is used on the edge of the Dutch door to add some fun + cuteness to my page.

Dutch doors are especially great for weekly spreads as they can get quite repetitive and this is just a good way to switch it up!

Similar to the previous one but using our Summer in Italy washi tape set to decorate. You can use whatever washi tape or decoration you like to add some colour to your spreads. I love the idea of using washi tape at the edge of the page and cutting around it like what you can see here.

This spread using our Tsuki Midsummer Night’s Dream collection uses two Dutch doors to highlight the page for to-do, trackers, and notes. This keeps these pages separate so they stand out and you can come back to them each day of the month to fill them in.

Here, the Dutch door is a fun way to bookmark important pages.

(Credit: @noteswithlu)

This weekly spread by Luisa uses the Dutch door technique to keep the decorations on the left and right side of the spread the same for 2 weeks. The first week is on the left side of the Dutch door and behind it is the second week.

It’s a great way to save some time decorating if you don’t have much but still want a beautiful weekly log!

I find with Dutch doors, I am more motivated to decorate my spreads and get more creative because the act of cutting a part of the page is already quite creative. So it encourages me to add doodles, washi tapes, etc to make it more visually appealing which helps me so much to unwind.

I hope you like these ideas and don’t forget to tag us on Instagram @notebook_therapy if you want to share your recreations!

Now that you know more about Dutch doors, why not get some inspo for your penpal envelope designs with our Top 10 favourite penpal envelope designs?