Pentimento Papeterie

Super classy and a little pricey, this is a great place to find books with musings on life and style (perfect gifts!), kids books, journals, wrapping paper, art supplies, purses, jewelry, you name it! Just go in with a set budget in mind or risk burning a hole in your wallet. The staff here are super helpful and very friendly.

Hands down my favourite shop on King Street. Every quirky little thing you would never think of you’ll find in Pentimento.
You’ll spend ages browsing the huge wall of cards laughing your head off (even if you’re not looking for a card). And they’ve got a small but great selection of specialty books from graffiti, photography and tattoos to cooking, modelling and architecture. They have beautiful stationery, paper and handmade crockery and well as some really gnarly toys for the cool kid who has everything.
This place is popular though and can become a bit of a squeeze but you’ll leave here happy just for having a look!

This place has the CUTEST knickknacks ever!!! I like coming here to shop for friends’ birthdays (and pick up a few things for myself, too, heehee.)
They sell homewares, gift cards, wrapping paper, novelty items, paper products (like washi tape, albums, woohoo), and funky books. I got my friend a Ryan Gosling «Hey Girl» journal and she liked it (I think.) During my latest visit I saw a «Bathroom Guest Book» for people to write in while they’re sittin’ on the throne. Pretty cool I must say…
Beware, though — it’s a bit pricy. I was looking for a ramen bowls and they had the perfect ramen bowls in-​store… but they were a couple hundred dollars, if I remember correctly.

Classy yet quirky. Pentimento has a great selection of cards, coffee table books, art, design, and photography tomes, and some excellent cooking/​culinary volumes as well.
Everything is really well laid out, the place is welcoming, well lit, and best of all, you don’t feel guilty for browsing. There’re some NSFW stuff, so if you’re sensitive to that sorta thing, or sensitive to what your kids see, then maybe not the best place for you.
Four stars feels a little high to be honest, particularly because I had no frame of reference for prices, but they’re niche, and they do niche well. While it wouldn’t be somewhere I visit regularly, or somewhere I’d pop by just because, I can’t say I’m –not– a fan… which I guess makes this a four star joint!

I love the cards, the books, the gift wrapping paper, the jewelry, the soaps… pretty much everything they stock in here. If you are looking for something unique and quirky, this is a wonderful shop to visit. They’ll even gift wrap your items for you.
Another Newtown gem. A must visit anytime I’m in the neighborhood.

With e-​cards, facebook and other electronic communication avenues being preferred to actual human contact these days, sending cards is on the wane. But once you’ve been to Pentimento, perhaps you may want to pick up that pen and write your best wishes on a greeting card to someone special.
One of the best stationary shops in Sydney, Pentimento has been around for ages. They stock a huge range of artsy cards, fashion and art books and ‘too cute to use’ stationary. They even have dining sets in the form of bowls, cups etc in cool colours and designs for the homebody or perfect as a house warming gift.
This is a great place to buy an artsy gift for that artsy friend that would appreciate the quirkiness of a Pentimento gift.

Where else can you find quirky book titles (
), a stack of journals (
) and colourful homewares by Mud (
) all under one roof? As far as I’m concerned, nowhere else. Pentimento in Newtown has got it all.
Pentimento is one of those places I go when I need to buy a gift of some description for that friend who already-​has-​everything-​and-​is-​so-​darn-​hard-​to-​buy-​for. Unique and eccentric, you can guarantee to find a present that no one else has thought of — ‘The Moustache Grower’s Guide’, anyone? There are things that will make your friend laugh, inspire them to create, give hints on their travel destination or provide them with something beautiful to display in their home. Whatever the case, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you don’t know what to buy someone (or perhaps you would like a self present), wander through Pentimento, it is sure to stimulate some original ideas.

Pentimento is near the top of my ‘Thing I Love in Newtown’ list.
This cutesy shop sells a wide range of … stuff. Yep. Heaps of stuff. Heaps of cool, cute, quirky, interesting, pretty and must-​have stuff. A fantastic spot to find a gift, Pentimento sells shelves of coffee-​table books (including a few beautiful tattoo books), unique cards, beautiful wrapping paper/​wall art (too pretty to crumple), kitsch magnets, delicate and individual jewellery and slick wallets, purses and handbags.
Like most of the shops along King St, it’s open late and makes for a good post-​dusk browse. Whilst some of their items can be pricey (a handbag stared back at me from their window for weeks, teasing me, knowing I could never think of spending that much money), most of the store is reasonable. So if you’re looking to buy me a gift, head here. Ok?

I have a small place in my heart for cool stationary stores; I think it dates back to when I was small and would have sold my pure little 7 year-​old soul for a Hello Kitty notebook or pencil case. This little Newtown shop on King Street has some really nice paper products ranging from notecard sets of every variety to scrapbooking supplies. Beyond that, you can also find accessories like handbags, hats and jewelry in here that are decently unique. It’s definitely worth a browse but I’m not sure I’d add it to my «Newtown must revisit» list. However, perhaps if you’re throwing a bird watching party or making a scrapbook about birds, or buying a birthday present for your bird-​obsessed Auntie, this will be your place. Yeah, you got it– lots of bird items here.

This is a cool stationary, card and book store. The cards are tremendous («Be Gentle, Be Truthful, Be Fearless» Ghandi) and the books are so not confined to dimwits (they have a book I just finished reading — Michaelangelo published by Taschen) and the A4 lined books and travel books and note books are cute and/​or classic but sometimes a tad expensive. They also have pretty or printed or very particular wrapping paper so you could literally buy a gift from this store (they also have beautifully bright cups and plates in the back section) along with the wrapping paper and card and be set to make someone’s day.
The store is on busy King St so it might be a little hard to find if you’re not familiar with the area. My suggestion is park somewhere along the street and just walk. The store will make itself known to you like all the rest of them.

King Street’s Pentimento Papererie is one of my favourite shops in Newtown, it’s one of those shops which offer an unimaginable array of unique and interesting items which are great both for gifts and for creating an interesting environment in your own world.
Apart from the coffee table books, and selection of art books, crockery, they sell wrapping paper (very Florence Broadhurst); which I would never have the heart to wrap presents in and would end up framing it on the wall.
They also have a varied selection of writing books and diaries, which are always in demand if you are a writer like myself.
They also have really cool little cute things at the counter like box clocks (which is a little box and a clock) and little Tv set key– rings.
If you are wandering through Newtown Pentimento Papererie is a must do.