Serenity at Home – Papaya
Perhaps best-known today for its Melbourne and Sydney retail stores, Australian furniture, accessories and homewares brand Papaya has been quietly supplying its signature aesthetic to residential projects for nearly 30 years. Behind the brand’s serene public face is a well-established trade operator, offering a comprehensive range of timeless pieces.
When Robyn Connolly co-founded Papaya in 1996, the brand immediately captured the imagination of Australia’s leading designers, influencing their residential projects with its selections of furniture, accessories and homewares. Proposing an understated contemporary aesthetic, Papaya is defined by its timeless offering, embracing the inherent raw beauty of natural materials in products of its own design as well as those by Scandinavian brands such as Zone, Linie Rugs and Paper Collective.
The essence of Papaya is distilled in its showrooms that display its comprehensive range of in-stock products. Settled in Sydney’s innerwest and the historic Melbourne suburb of Richmond, the light-filled spaces are comprised of sophisticated compositions, with sofas, dining tables, outdoor furniture and rugs positioned alongside Papaya’s classic accessories. “Visitors to our showrooms and stores tell us it’s a very tactile, almost sensual experience,” says Robyn. “They find themselves inadvertently touching fabrics and stroking surfaces. They talk about a sense of calm and of leaving feeling uplifted.” The showrooms depict the type of sanctuary to which many architects and interior designers aspire, forming inspirational spaces for clients to visit. Enveloped in a landscape of simple, organic shapes and inviting, raw materials, both designers and their clients can confidently envision the pieces within their interior project.
Honed through 30 years of experience, highly efficient and considered commercial operations underpin the business. The products of Papaya’s own design are meticulously crafted, utilising the company’s access to artisanal factories, workshops and quarries around the world. Locally, a 3,000 square-metre, five-tier warehouse in Sydney ensures that most standard stock orders can be delivered to a tight deadline. To reduce its carbon footprint and establish itself as an ethical enterprise, Papaya implements harm-reduction in its production processes, such as sun-drying and functioning with a shortened supply chain. It also negotiates with overseas workers to guarantee fair living wages. The timeless quality of Papaya’s products sews sustainability into its DNA, enabling pieces to be retained for multiple generations.
