Stem

The drawcard of this shop for me is their selection of Elk products, including Elk clothing (beautifully made but pricey), jewellery (although I’m yet to find Elk’s silver necklace collection), brooches and leather wallets and bags. They also stock delicate silver jewellery (brand unknown) with fine chains holding tiny ‘j’taime’ placards, or miniature pendants of mice or a picnic box, complete with cheese, wine and glasses.
The second port of call is their cabinet of Skaagen watches — a small selection, but they only ever have the finest of Skaagens range. Aside from this, looking around the rest of the shop is always part of the trip — you can’t leave without running your eyes over Stem’s racks of cute and creative cards (fun scratchie cards — scratch to reveal a hidden message/​picture) and stationary, including the classic Moleskin diaries. They also sell baby goods (a few pieces of clothing, cots, blankets, toys that live on shelves never to be touched), paper cut-​out mobiles, homewares ($ 90 bottle openers that look like parrots, big glass bowls and cutlery with legs) and other bits and pieces like toothpaste holders, paper weights that actually make you consider buying a paper weight and Scrabble piece fridge magnets and mugs.
They also offer a ‘Make your own photo wall’ service — they sell a bunch of classic black and white frames in varied sizes and shapes, which they can then position into a design to suit you and your space.
In winter, this shop was stocked some beautiful scarves and beanies made from quality materials with price tags to match. Now the back of the shop is filled with classy-​classic Christmas decorations, including the elegant apartment’s Christmas tree alternative: birch branches, sprayed white, with each individual branch lit by a tiny fairy (light).

A quality home wares and gift store that has definitely stood the test of time here in Balmain. It is a joy to browse through and look at all of the amazing little trinkets this establishment has to offer. Although a little small; this establishment is doing a great job in making use of the space it has available. Has its place in Balmain, and would equally be suited to Darlinghurst, Paddington, Newtown or Glebe. Maybe a bit too much attitude for nearby Rozelle.
S = stimulating and serene
T = timely and terrific
E = energetic; maybe a little bit too much heavy energy which could drive a few people away. It is intense.
M = magical and fairly memorable.