There isn’t a better time of the year to get on top of your appointments and workload than right now, but finding the motivation to keep your office and home desks organized, let alone actually ticking off all tasks noted down on your agenda, requires more than mere wishful thinking. And that’s why I think it’s time for us to present you with my list of the best stationery brands — to bring a touch of playfulness, charm, and crafty design into your routine.
Yes, because when it comes to knocking your life into shape, you need much more than the best planners. But don’t worry, I have sketched it all out for you: from nostalgically handcrafted journals and notebooks to preciously designed pencils and pens, striking post-it boxes, and whimsically aesthetic tools, the best stationery brands are your portal into productivity — and are filled with inspiration, too.
How did I pick this lineup? Well, you come to Livingetc for our style edits, so it’s fair to say that these are the brands that are doing what our editors think are the best, most culturally relevant designs in stationery right now. Coming from across the globe to keep you afloat when you need it most, they are there to add structure to your thoughts and beautifully complement your home. Discover them all below.
The Best Stationery Brands
As far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t get any cooler than Scandinavian design, and that, of course, holds true for stationery, too. Enter NOTEM: your go-to destination for all things desk and paper goods, whose accessible yet instantly iconic offer is bound to be a gamechanger. Manufactured using the finest materials in Copenhagen, the house pairs a watercolor-like palette with bold, eccentric designs, making it a Livingetc favorite.
Those of you who have read my article on the best London stationery shops will instantly recognize Choosing Keeping, and those who haven’t… well, you are missing out. This small-scale, family-run store is the ultimate destination for pen-and-paper nerds: not only does Choosing Keeping sell some of the most stunningly decorated notebooks, journals, and cards, but its tools and accessories collection is the stuff of dreams for the design-savvy!
If you want to bring global inspiration to your desk, then The Journal Shop is the place. Shipping globally , this encyclopedic archive of stationery goods is one of the most comprehensive you will find. From the legendary Hobonichi to the coveted Kokuyo, Midori, Hightide, and Sailor, The Journal Shop should be in every Japanese stationery (and Korean) addict’s books. And it is not just international either, but devoted to quality and style, too.
When it comes to sourcing the best-designed stationery from across the world, ABASK has no equal. Its curation of objects for storyteller, The Sturdy, boasts a timeless, collector-worthy selection of desk accessories, including leather stationery, aesthetic storage units, pens, utensils, notebooks, photo albums, and more. It has to be my personal favorite in this list of the best stationery brands, so take a look to see for yourself.
Is it just me, or Japanese stationery is having a moment (and scissors a magazine-worthy comeback?!). Ever since first coming across KOKUYO, Osaka’s office furniture and equipment and paper goods giant, active in the industry since 1905, I haven’t been able to buy from any other of its competitors. Its clean designs, brought to life by delicate hues, look straight out of a 1950s photograph, and more and more rising designers are turning to its assorted notebooks and tools as signifiers of coolness.
Coming at a more affordable price than most labels featured in this roundup, Rifle Paper Co is in no way less buy-worthy. Its collection of paper goods comprises anything from quirky pencil and pen sets, markers, and highlighters to envelope seals and assorted card boxes, each imbued with a bucolic, romantic touch. The assorted folder set above, blending William Morris style décor with modern lines, strikes the balance between functionality and aesthetic.
The thing with Papier is… it’s impossible not to fall for it. Crafted in high-quality, sturdy paper, Taymoor Atighetchi’s are as carefully designed as they are colorful, quirky, and uplifting. From the best stationery for letter writing to personalizable photo books, yearly (and open-date) planners, notebooks, journals, stickers, and more, Papier is your one-stop shop to creative wonder. And, yes, we are totally obsessed.
Californian stationery disruptor Alissa Carnazzo and her eponymous brand, Alissa Bell, might well be one of the reasons behind the ongoing paper goods renaissance. Her color-drenched desk additions, metal memo boxes, pens, and cards are sophisticated enough to get anyone back into handwriting. Products might not be necessarily cheap, but for the founder “paper is permanent, and style is foundational” — and they come packed with both.
At the storied Smythson, quality comes with a price tag, but true paper good addicts will be more than willing to take the risk to carry one of their spectacularly crafted leather agendas around with them. As one of the pioneering voices of luxury stationery, accessories, and home décor, the brand boasts a reputation for marrying first-class artisanry with timeless designs, and the croc-style planner above epitomizes it.
