The Paper Place story began in 2011 when Anwesha Arya decided to open a shop in her beloved town of Rye, which she had been visiting since 1998 from her then London home. She came looking for the sea; being born in Bombay (as she still calls Mumbai) she missed the sea and fell in love with the town that the sea abandoned 700 years ago.
As an academic, writer and former interior designer, married to an actor, the idea behind starting her own business was to help provide some regular financial stability for her growing family. But not content with doing something just for the sake of money, Anwesha wanted to do something she was passionate about. And that’s where the story of The Paper Place begins. She remembered her love of paper, of wrapping presents for friends and family and taking great joy in doing so. She remembered her heritage, which she is proud of, with its strong ethos of recycling; as a child she was thrilled to go to paper shops and remembered one in Bombay where she was surrounded by beautiful, silk-screened paper stationery, all made from recycled cotton rags. All this came together with the opening of The Paper Place in Rye in 2011.
After the birth of her fourth child in 2014, Anwesha downsized the business to focus on her growing young family. But she continued holding sales at weekend markets, at Christmas fairs, and sold her products at the RSC shop in Stratford Upon Avon, when her husband was performing there.
By 2022 she was ready to reopen her shop but this time she wanted to be on the High Street. Anwesha jumped at the opportunity when her current space became suddenly available, got the keys on 17th November 2022 and managed to open two days later! Her business was up and running in no time.
For Anwesha, The Paper Place is not merely a shop or a business. It is her haven. She chooses and surrounds herself with the most beautiful papers and paper products, which is reflected by how positively it has been received by locals and visitors alike. A common reaction from customers is ‘this paper is too beautiful to use for wrapping’. But that is exactly her point; that beauty, at an affordable price, can surround you and uplift you. She advocates William Morris’ maxim; “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”.
Sustainability is at the heart of everything showcased at The Paper Place. All the paper in her shop is made from cotton rags and wool waste. It is then calendared and cut before the silk- screening process begins. This is done meticulously by hand in Bombay and takes as many days as the number of colours on a paper or card. The people who do this are former fabric industry workers who became redundant with the introduction of digital printing. Thankfully they have found an outlet for their skill and Anwesha supports this wholeheartedly.
Her door is always open to local and global creative artisans and she actively encourages artists to use her paper in their work, and sells some of the resulting artefacts in her shop. Cyril and Jane Harrison are local decoupage artists who dress locally gathered shells and used cans to make stunning tidies, unusual penpots and trinket holders. Martha Turland uses Anwesha’s commissioned papers as end paper and covers as well in binding her books. Award-winning sculptor Steph Rubin has used this paper to model her fox heads since 2011. Jane Harrison uses decoupage to cover shells she collects on Winchelsea beach to make trinket holders and jewellery. Harriet Molden uses the paper to make her papier-mache cow heads. Local photographer Jeff Grice and local artists Stephen Attridge , Patricia Barefoot and Leonard Platt use the paper as mounts for their work, each enhancing the other. Sarah Banbery (Alchemy Papers) uses our specialist Daphne paper that can last thousands of years to make bespoke stationery. Angela Flanders use our papers to dress backdrops to their perfume shoots almost monthly.
More recently, The Paper Place was selected for a makeover challenge and the shop will feature in the 6th series of the BBC show Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr, which begins airing on April 10th. Of this experience, Anwesha says, “How fortuitous for us that just as I was thinking of a refurb and makeover for the shop, in walks someone from the production team of Interior Design Masters! They were a terrific team. Extremely professional, courteous and mindful.” She can’t tell us who the two winning designers were but can share that she is delighted with the results!
Besides her busy work and family life schedule, Anwesha also runs a small monthly film club to share her love of her film heritage (she is the granddaughter of Indian film icon Bimal Roy, and daughter of filmmakers Basu and Rinki Bhattacharya.) She also loves drumming with the Rye town band Ryebellion, which she joined in 2022. Married to her childhood sweetheart, actor Sagar Arya, Anwesha lives with her four children, two of whom were born in Rye, their Labrador Atticus, a Norwegian forest cat, and two fish. She is currently working with local poet Alex Josephy on a book of poems ‘Shared Stories’ for publisher Beautiful Dragons due to be published later this year. You can usually find Anwesha smiling behind the counter, so do pop in and say hello… and join the every-growing fan club of The Paper Place.
What brings you to The George?
The atmosphere at the George is one of quiet, under-stated opulence. Being a busy young family our home is constantly demanding, so I come seeking that elegant, calm atmosphere.
List 3 things you won’t leave home without?
My husband, (I don’t drive so I have to rely on his expertise to ferry me places!) my trusty notebook (I have too many, I adore paper) and whatever I’m reading. I need a book beside me always.
What is your earliest hotel memory?
Hotel Rossia, Moscow. My father was Jury Chairperson for the International Film Festival and I literally climbed into my parents’ suitcase. I was five, it was easy to curl myself to fit in among their clothes; it is considerably less easy to do this now of course! The Hotel was glorious, palatial and beautifully lit. In 1981 it was the largest hotel in the world. I particularly remember the delicious Broscht, tomato soup with salami afloat on the surface in a giant red ceramic cup. The distinctive scent of the hotel really stayed with me, it was April, there were massive bouquets of star gazer lilies on every floor. Being a walk away from St Peter’s Basilica was so memorable.
What is the best/most important part of staying away in a hotel for you?
Crisp, yet supple bed linen and soft fragrant towels.
What are you currently reading/binge-watching/listening to?
Reading Weyward and watching The White Lotus, coincidentally all about the most extraordinarily extravagant chain of hotels. Such a guilty pleasure as the new series is ongoing at the moment. Mike White’s writing, and just his creation of this fantastic hotel chain, is so evocative and supremely entertaining.
What do you always forget/lose when you go away?
My toothbrush. I hate dentists.
Hypothetically, who would you most like to discover is a fellow guest?
Charles Dance. Since seeing him play the inimitable documentarian Robert Flaherty in the film Kabloonak (1994) I’ve always wanted to ask him how he got under the skin of one of my filmmaker heroes. Robert Flaherty is credited with making one of the first biographically rooted films Nanook of the North (1922).
What helps you get to sleep at night? (Keep it clean!)
Lavender pillow mist, homemade.
My secret Rye discovery is…
The Fig. Such a wonderful eatery with really imaginative menu-making. Rosie Furnival, the chef-owner has visited my mother in Bombay some 12 years ago, and very sweetly has incorporated some fabulous Indian flavours into her seasonal menus. The staff are delightfully attentive and the atmosphere is always light and happy in there.
