I LOVE Orla Kiely.
I remember the day I first stumbled across Orla. I was in college in Springfield Missouri strolling through a factory/reject store (clothes with broken zippers, missing buttons, items they had too much of at the department store, etc), when I found a super, super cute brown purse with a mod, graphic print. It had a very slight red line drawn on it that you could only see if you were really looking for it, and the handbag was made of a coated canvas. I loved it, but it was $30 so I almost put it back. But I carried it around for the hour that I was there, and finally sucked it up and bought it.
Years later, I am STILL carrying said bag, with only minimal signs of wear. It's held up beautifully.
So now I have a serious love for Orla Kiely. When her collection hit Target my sister and I were all up on that. I am kicking myself for not buying every single piece...hindsight is 20/20.
Needless to say, with the house search going on decorating is on my brain. Whatever house we end up in, I'll have at least a corner for my sewing set-up, and I really want to tie some Orla in. Because her stuff makes me so happy.
Do you SEE those chair cushions?! I can't afford her fabric, but I could easily embroider her iconic stem print onto a pretty solid and recover a chair seat. I can't talk about her furniture, I get too upset and I question my whole philosophy of "do what you love, who cares how much money you make if you're happy!" Which is dumb, and I know this, but that's how much Orla tempts me.
Wallpaper will never, ever make an appearance in Ryan and I's homes...both of us have spent way too much time scraping old wallpaper off various walls to ever willingly put it up. But, if we weren't so anti-wallpaper, and if it wasn't $98 a roll, this would be in consideration....
Sigh.
Here's Ms. Kiely's office in England:
Light, with a few pops of color. Simple.
My stubborn fixation on replicating expensive things that I love and can't afford has turned it's focus from wedding planning (*bouquets cough cough*) to Orla in my sewing space. Get excited, because I will have Orla's mod, unique and graphic touches without designer prices. Come hell or high water, it will happen!
But, I am thinking of asking for this for Christmas....
Do you have a fav designer you love but can't afford? Do you want to incorporate expensive stuff into your home without paying lots of $$$?
YESS!! I have never personally been a Coach bag girl or a Louis Vuitton (sp?) bag girl, never understood paying that much for a designer purse, until I saw her stuff. They're the only purses I could even attempt to justify the prices on because I like them so much. I wasn't aware of any home decor items (minus the Target line) but I guess it's a new thing to long for! :)
ReplyDeleteI am VERY guilty of indulging in my love of all things designer. I am a little embarassed that the total amount spent on my collection could probably feed a small country for a year. I love fashion. I work hard and think it's ok to splurge every now and then. However, I can totally understand how people think spending $500-$1000 on something like that is ridiculous, but sometimes I just can't resist!
ReplyDeleteOh and the Hermes Birkin makes me weak in the knees, but I definitely can't afford the hefty $7000 and up price tag. And if I could, I don't know that I would.
ReplyDeleteI love some of her stuff too; we got her grey stem print duvet cover for a wedding gift!
ReplyDeleteI am totally digging all that furniture. Is it outrageously expensive?
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