Where to Buy Beautiful Stationery Online in the UK
Good stationery is surprisingly hard to find on a high street. The big chains carry office basics; the beautiful things - heavyweight cards, sewn notebooks, proper writing paper - tend to live in a handful of specialist shops and brand studios. This is a guide to where to buy beautiful stationery online in the UK, what to look for when you buy it, and the shops worth knowing.
What to Look For in Beautiful Stationery
Paper weight. The quickest test of quality. Notebook paper of around 100gsm takes a fountain pen without bleeding through; cards of 300gsm and above feel substantial in the hand. Good shops list the weight; if it isn't listed, it's usually because it isn't worth mentioning.
How it's made. Sewn binding lets a notebook open flat and stay open. Gold foiling, considered typography and original illustration are what separate a designed card from a printed one.
Where it's from. Many of the best stationery brands design and print close to home. Our notebooks, for example, are made in England.
Packaging. Beautiful stationery shouldn't arrive in plastic. Look for shops that send cards and paper without cellophane sleeves.
Where to Buy Beautiful Stationery Online in the UK
Katie Leamon. Our own shop. A family-run luxury stationery brand, founded in 2010 and designed in our North London studio. We sell luxury cards for every occasion, lay-flat notebooks made in England with 100gsm ivory paper and sewn binding, letter and writing sets, notecards and double-sided wrapping paper - alongside a curated edit of stationery from other makers, from Kaweco pens to mt washi tape. Everything ships plastic-free, with free UK delivery on card orders over £20 and on all orders over £50.
Liberty, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. All three London stores stock Katie Leamon alongside other stationery brands - good for gifting, and for seeing several brands side by side.
Smythson. The heritage choice for leather notebooks, diaries and engraved correspondence cards - at the top end of the price range.
Papier. Best known for personalised stationery: notebooks, planners and cards printed with names, monograms or photos.
Papersmiths. An independent stationery shop with a carefully chosen mix of brands - good for browsing pens, notebooks and cards in one place.
The Journal Shop. A specialist in notebooks and journals, with a wide range of international brands for anyone who writes every day.
Choosing Keeping and Present & Correct. Two London shops with distinctive edits of stationery and desk objects from around the world.
How to Choose Where to Buy
Buying a gift? Choose a shop that sends things beautifully - plastic-free, well packed, with a card that matches. Our guide to letter writing sets and luxury gift ideas for stationery lovers are good places to start.
Buying for yourself? Start with what you'll actually use: a notebook you'll carry every day, cards you'll send through the year, paper you'll enjoy writing on. Our guide to the best luxury notebooks covers what to look for.
Want to compare brands? Our guide to the best luxury stationery brands in the UK goes brand by brand.
Browse Katie Leamon stationery - designed in our North London studio and stocked at Liberty, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. Free UK delivery on stationery orders over £50.