Our story — Meet Thomas
I spent eleven years as a material culture researcher at the University of Tasmania, based in Hobart. My work was fairly niche, tracing how paper goods and writing instruments moved through colonial Australian households in the 1800s, what they said about daily life, commerce, correspondence. It sounds dry when I describe it that way, but I found it genuinely absorbing. You learn a lot about how people organised their thinking by looking at what they put on their desks. That background eventually collided with a fairly ordinary personal problem, and that collision became Windsor Lane Co.
Before the business, I was writing a long-form research monograph on nineteenth-century Australian stationery trade routes, specifically the supply chains running between London mills and Sydney and Hobart merchants. The project required me to source replica materials for photography, things like period-appropriate journals, letter sets, paper clips. I spent about four months hunting down suppliers who made things to a standard that didn't embarrass the photography. Most of what I found locally was poor. Most of what I found overseas involved minimum orders of 500 units and shipping costs that made no sense for a single researcher buying samples.
In late 2021 I placed a test order with three Australian-based suppliers I'd identified through the research, two in Melbourne and one in a small workshop outside Launceston. Total spend was around $340. The goods arrived and they were genuinely good. Better than I expected. I photographed them, finished the monograph chapter, and then sat looking at the leftover stock for about a week. The decision to turn it into a business wasn't dramatic. I listed six items on a simple Shopify store on a Sunday afternoon in March 2022, told nobody, and woke up Monday to find two orders from people in Brisbane I'd never met. That felt like enough of a signal.
We're still based in Hobart. I run the buying and product development side from a back room in my house in North Hobart, and we use a small fulfilment partner in Docklands, Melbourne to handle dispatch. The range has grown to about 40 SKUs. I still do all the supplier conversations myself, mostly because the research background makes those conversations easier. I know what questions to ask about materials and production. That's the whole operation, really. No warehouse, no showroom, just a fairly careful approach to what we stock and why.
— Still learning from old desks. — Thomas, Thomas Pearce
Journal
How I finally found the right leather for the Kensington
After nine months of dead ends, a small tannery outside Geelong answered an email I almost didn't send.
When I left my research position at UTAS in late 2022, I had one project I couldn't let go of: a journal that actually held up to daily use. Not decorative. Not the kind you buy and feel guilty writing in. I wanted something that would look better at year five than it did on day one. I spent most of 2023 chasing leather suppliers up the east coast, sending inquiry emails that largely went unanswered or came back with minimums I couldn't meet. At one point I had a spreadsheet with 34 contacted tanneries and a column called 'status' that was almost entirely the word 'nothing'.
The tannery I eventually found is a small operation in Lara, just outside Geelong, run by a family that has been doing vegetable-tanned hides for three generations. They work almost exclusively with Corriedale hides from properties in western Victoria. I drove up in July last year, which was probably excessive for what could have been a phone call, but I wanted to see the process. The pits are the old-fashioned kind, not drum-tumbled, and the tanning cycle runs somewhere between 8 and 14 weeks depending on the hide weight. That's slow by any commercial measure, but it's why the leather develops the way it does.
What I was looking for specifically was a hide with enough natural grain variation to show character without being so irregular that the covers would be inconsistent piece to piece. That's a narrower brief than it sounds. Most commercial leather is corrected, meaning the surface is buffed flat and then embossed with a uniform grain. It looks fine in a catalogue. In your hand after six months it looks like a phone case. The Lara hides have what the tannery owner, Paul, called 'honest variation,' which I appreciated as a phrase. There's a 2 to 3 millimetre thickness tolerance across a single hide and I've learned to work with that.
Getting the first batch to Hobart involved more logistics than I'd expected. The hides come down on a refrigerated pallet because Tassie quarantine requirements apply even to processed leather in certain conditions, and I had to get paperwork in order before anything crossed the strait. The first delivery was 12 hides, which sounds like a lot until you account for wastage around natural blemishes. I ended up with usable material for about 40 journal covers from that run. Enough to test, not enough to launch properly, but it told me what I needed to know.
The Kensington cover is cut from the shoulder and belly sections specifically, which have the tightest fibre structure in the hide. Back sections go to other purposes or get sold on. It took me a while to stop thinking about that as waste and start thinking about it as just, the reality of working with a natural material at small scale. Paul said something on that visit that stuck with me: 'You're not manufacturing, you're selecting.' I think about that most mornings when I'm going through a new delivery.
Setting up a writing desk that holds its own over time
I've rearranged my desk probably eleven times in two years, and I think I finally understand what I was doing wrong.
My desk is a secondhand teacher's table I bought from a school clearance sale in New Town for forty dollars. It's not beautiful. The surface has ink stains from what I assume were decades of marking, and one of the legs was repaired at some point with a bolt that doesn't quite match. But it's 1500mm wide and 750mm deep, which means I have room to actually think, and I've come to believe that surface area is probably the most underrated factor in whether a desk works for you. Everything else is secondary.
For a long time I had too much on it. A lamp, a monitor, a stack of reference books I told myself I'd rotate but didn't, a pen cup that held 23 pens when I realistically used four of them. The Eco-Friendly Desk Organiser I sell came out of my own frustration with that situation, actually. I wanted something that could hold what I needed without becoming a surface for accumulation. The version I landed on has three fixed sections and one removable tray, and the removable tray was the decision that took longest because I kept second-guessing whether it was necessary. It is.
The way I use the organiser now: the tallest section holds the pens I'm actually rotating through, currently two of the Bondi Beach set and a pencil I've had since my first year of postgrad. The mid section holds a small ruler, a letter opener, and a folded sheet of paper with my current week's priorities written on it in pencil so I can erase and rewrite without ceremony. The flat tray at the front holds whatever I'm actively corresponding about, usually two or three pieces of paper at most. When it gets to four I deal with something.
The journal lives to the left of the organiser, closed, with the current pen clipped to the cover. I write in it before I open the laptop in the morning, usually for about 15 minutes. This isn't a productivity system, it's just a habit that helps me think more clearly before the day gets noisy. I use the Sydney Harbour Letter Set for actual correspondence, which I try to do at least twice a month because I find it forces a different kind of attention than email. You can't unsend a letter, which sounds like a constraint but is actually a relief.
The thing I'd say about desk organisation generally is that the goal isn't tidiness for its own sake. It's reducing the number of small decisions you make before you start working. If I have to move three things to find my pen I've already spent something. The setup I have now means I sit down and I'm writing within about ninety seconds. That sounds minor. Over a year it isn't.
Where the Sydney Harbour Letter Set actually came from
It started as a personal project for a specific piece of correspondence I needed to write and couldn't bring myself to type.
In early 2023, before Windsor Lane Co existed as anything other than a folder on my desktop, I needed to write a letter to a former colleague. It was a complicated letter, the kind where the words matter and the medium matters, and I kept starting it on my laptop and stopping. Something about the screen made it feel like a draft. I went looking for decent writing paper and found that most of what was available in Hobart was either flimsy copier weight dressed up with a watermark, or extremely expensive imported stock that felt like overkill for a letter between two people who'd shared an office for three years.
I ended up ordering sample sheets from four different paper mills, including one in regional New South Wales near Bathurst that I'd found through a bookbinding forum. They produce a cotton-blend writing paper at 100gsm that has enough body to take a fountain pen without bleeding and enough texture to feel like it means something. I wrote the letter on a test sheet before I'd decided to do anything commercial with it, and when I folded it and sealed it I thought, this is the right weight. That sounds like a small thing. It's not.
The design for the letter set took about four months of evenings. I'm not a graphic designer by training, I'm a former environmental historian, so I had to learn as I went and make a lot of mistakes that no one saw except me. The header motif is a simplified line rendering of the Harbour Bridge pylons, which I drew from a reference photograph I took myself on a research trip to Sydney in 2019. I redrew it seven times before I was happy with the proportions. The colour is a specific blue that I mixed from reference samples, a kind of early-morning harbour blue before the tourist ferries start.
Each set has 20 sheets and 10 envelopes. The envelope flap is a diamond cut rather than the more common wallet flap, which I chose because it seals more cleanly and looks deliberate without being fussy. The envelopes are printed with a small interior pattern, which you only see when the letter is removed. I added that in the second production run after someone mentioned they'd noticed it and appreciated it. I hadn't been sure it was worth the cost, but at roughly 30 cents per set it turned out to be one of the easier decisions I made.
The letter set is the product I'm most attached to, probably because it came from a specific need rather than a category gap. I still use it myself. I've sent letters to people in Launceston, Melbourne, and twice to a researcher in Edinburgh who I met at a conference in 2017. She writes back on her own paper, which I like. There's a kind of reciprocity in that.
June in Hobart and writing through a quiet winter
Winter in Hobart is genuinely cold, and this year I stopped pretending that was a problem to be solved.
I know March isn't winter, but in Hobart it's the month where you start feeling it coming. The mornings are darker by 6am than they were in February, and there's a particular quality to the light in the late afternoon that's hard to describe except to say it makes you want to be inside with something warm and something to write with. I grew up in Launceston, which is colder and less dramatic about it, and I've lived in Hobart for eleven years now. I still find the seasonal shift here more pronounced than anywhere else I've spent time, including a winter I spent in Aberdeen during my PhD.
Last June I made a decision that sounds obvious in retrospect: I stopped fighting the slowness of winter and started using it. The business has a natural rhythm anyway, with the busiest period running October through January, and by June the order volume drops enough that I have actual thinking time. Last year I used about six weeks of that time to redesign the packaging for the Kensington journal. Not because the old packaging was broken, but because I'd always known it was a compromise and I finally had the hours to do it properly. The new version uses a two-piece box with a lift-off lid and a paper ribbon pull. It takes 40 seconds longer to pack per unit. I think it's worth it.
I also used last winter to start writing more deliberately in my own journal, which I'd been inconsistent about for most of 2023. There's something slightly absurd about a person who sells journals being bad at keeping one, but there it is. What changed was stopping trying to make the entries useful. I had this habit of writing things that looked like notes toward some future document, full of half-formed arguments and references. When I gave that up and just wrote what had actually happened that day, the practice became sustainable. I've now written in the Kensington every day for 214 consecutive days, which is the longest streak I've managed.
The Bondi Beach Pen Set gets used differently in winter than in summer, I've noticed. In summer I tend to use the finer nibs, the 0.5mm, for lists and quick notes. In winter I gravitate toward the broader point, which feels more comfortable for longer writing sessions when I'm at the desk for an hour rather than five minutes. I don't know if that's a real phenomenon or something I've invented, but I've mentioned it to a few customers who wrote in and two of them said they'd noticed the same thing. Sample size of three, including me. Not peer-reviewed.
There's a particular stretch of the Hobart waterfront near Princes Wharf that I walk most mornings, even in the cold. The light on the water at 7am in June is genuinely strange, a flat silver that doesn't photograph well but stays with you. I think that's what I like most about being here for the business, not the scenery as a brand asset, just the fact that the place has a texture that gets into the work without me trying to put it there.
Customer reviews
Sarah M. — Surry Hills, NSW — 2025-03-12 — 5/5
Exactly what I was looking for
Ordered the Kensington Leather Journal as a birthday gift and it arrived in four days from Hobart, which was quicker than I expected. The leather feels solid and the pages are a good weight — nothing bleeds through. Packaging was neat and the gift wrapping option saved me a lot of trouble.
James R. — Brunswick, VIC — 2024-11-05 — 4/5
Good pens, minor gripe
The Bondi Beach Pen Set writes really well and looks great on my desk. My only issue is that one of the pen caps was a bit loose when it arrived — not a dealbreaker, but worth mentioning. Shipping was fast and the packaging was solid, so no damage to the pens themselves.
Claire T. — Fitzroy, VIC — 2025-01-18 — 5/5
The desk organiser is brilliant
I'd been looking for a bamboo desk organiser that wasn't flimsy, and this one is genuinely sturdy. Set it up in about two minutes and it holds everything I need without wobbling around. Ordered on a Monday, had it by Wednesday — can't ask for more than that.
Michael B. — New Farm, QLD — 2024-09-22 — 5/5
Great stationery, well packaged
Picked up the Sydney Harbour Letter Set as part of a gift bundle and it looked even better in person than the photos suggested. The paper quality is noticeably good — smooth to write on and the envelopes seal properly. Will be back for more.
Rachel K. — Cottesloe, WA — 2025-02-07 — 4/5
Nice clips, shipping to WA took a while
The Melbourne Art Deco Paper Clips are genuinely lovely — solid metal, good weight, and the design is distinctive without being over the top. Shipping to Perth took about six business days on the standard option, so if you're in WA and need something quickly, go express. Happy with the product itself.
Tom W. — Hobart, TAS — 2024-08-14 — 5/5
Local and worth it
Good to support a Hobart business. I bought the Kensington Leather Journal for myself and it's held up well over several months of daily use — the leather hasn't cracked and the binding is still tight. Thomas included a short note with the order, which was a nice touch.
Priya N. — Norwood, SA — 2025-04-01 — 4/5
Solid gift option
Bought the Bondi Beach Pen Set as an office farewell gift and it went down really well. The presentation box it comes in does most of the work for you — it looks more expensive than it is. Took five days to arrive in Adelaide, which was fine given I wasn't in a rush.
Dan O. — Manly, NSW — 2024-12-30 — 5/5
Desk organiser is a keeper
I've gone through a few cheap desk organisers over the years and they all end up falling apart. This bamboo one from Windsor Lane feels like it'll actually last. Arrived well-packaged with no damage, and the sizing fits a standard desk without taking over the whole surface.
Shipping
All Windsor Lane Co orders ship from our Hobart workshop. Standard orders go via Australia Post and typically arrive within 3–7 business days for metro areas in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth. Regional and remote addresses — including parts of outback WA, NT, and rural Queensland — can take 5–10 business days. If you need something sooner, express shipping is available through StarTrack at a flat rate calculated at checkout. Orders placed before 2pm AEST Monday to Friday are dispatched the same day. Orders placed after that cutoff or on weekends go out the next business day. You'll receive an email with your tracking number as soon as your parcel is on its way.
Shipping is free on all standard Australia Post orders over $100 AUD. Below that threshold, standard rates are calculated at checkout based on your location and parcel weight. All prices displayed on our site include GST — there are no surprise charges added at checkout. We pack every order carefully using recycled cardboard boxes and paper fill. Leather goods are wrapped in tissue and boxed to prevent scuffing during transit. Smaller items like paper clips and pen sets are packed in rigid mailers to avoid bending or crushing.
If your parcel arrives damaged, please take photos of both the packaging and the item before doing anything else, then contact us at hello@windsorlaneco.com.au within 48 hours of delivery. We'll work with you to arrange a replacement or refund. Windsor Lane Co is not responsible for delays caused by Australia Post or StarTrack once a parcel has been handed over, but we'll always do our best to help track down a missing or delayed order. For time-sensitive orders, we recommend choosing express at checkout to give yourself the best chance of on-time delivery.
Returns
You can return most Windsor Lane Co items within 30 days of the delivery date. To be eligible, the item needs to be unused, in the same condition it arrived, and sent back in its original packaging with your proof of purchase. To start a return, email hello@windsorlaneco.com.au with your order number and the reason for the return. We'll confirm whether the item qualifies and give you the return address. Change-of-mind returns are accepted but the cost of return postage is yours to cover. We recommend using a tracked service, as we can't be responsible for parcels lost on their way back to us.
Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law apply in full. If a product arrives faulty, damaged, or not as described, you're entitled to a remedy — which may be a repair, replacement, or full refund depending on the nature of the problem. In those cases, we'll cover the return postage. Please don't send a faulty item back before contacting us first, as we may be able to resolve the issue without you needing to post anything. Windsor Lane Co takes these obligations seriously and will not impose conditions that go beyond what the Australian Consumer Law allows.
Once we receive and inspect your return, we'll send you an email confirming the outcome. Approved refunds are processed back to your original payment method within 5–7 business days of us receiving the item. Depending on your bank, it may take a further 2–3 business days to appear in your account. Exchanges are available subject to stock — if the item you want isn't available, we'll issue a refund instead. Personalised and custom items cannot be returned unless they are faulty. Items marked as final sale at the time of purchase are also excluded from change-of-mind returns.