Decorating Guides
New Classics: Orla Kiely Prints
These textiles, home accessories and wall coverings from the U.K. add graphic pizzazz all over the house
Chances are an Orla Kiely print will look familiar to you even if you don't know it by name. The company began with Irish textile designer Orla Kiely designing hats and then expanded to colorful laminated bags, bedspreads, wallpaper and a slew of home accessories. A few years ago her line for Target was tough to score, as Orla fans snapped them up at a record pace (I'm still hoarding some Abacus Flower coffee mugs myself). Based in London, Kiely designs fun yet sophisticated graphics that are popular around the world. Here's a look at how people are using them around their homes.
This wallpaper is called Flowering Blossom. It has a light pop-floral look and a sense of linear geometry. Kiely was trained as a textile designer, and her prints are playful yet chic.
Orla Kiely Linear Stem Storage Jar
This colorful storage jar will add a ray of sunny yellow to your kitchen. If bright color is not your thing, it also comes in black and white. The combination of the crisp print with a ceramic jar and wooden lid gives the jar a Scandinavian modern aesthetic.
The Linear Stem Collection is one of the most popular Orla Kiely classics. The graphic print has a midcentury-modern sensibility and a wonderful combination of colors. It seems it was made for these very clean-lined armchairs.
This designer created a blown-up version of the Linear Stem motif using sample sizes of paint.
Linear Stem also looks great spread across the bed. This designer has done a great job of taking all the color cues in the room straight from the print.
Conversely, the print adds almost 100 percent of the color to this white-walled modern room.
This modern lake house is complete with melamine Abacus Flower dishes from Orla Kiely's collection for Target.
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See the rest of this home
Vintage lover Jenny Mitchell usually accessorizes with pieces from decades past, but the Orla Kiely tray caught her discerning eye.
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See the rest of this home
Orla Kiely Large Composition Book
As I writer, I go through a lot of notebooks, and I have a pile of these happy books around the house myself. Rather than looking messy like a typical spiral notebook, they add style to whichever room I leave them in.
Orla Kiely Pear Print Pillow
The Pear Print is another highly recognizable Orla Kiely graphic; this 18½-inch by 18½-inch throw pillow adds a powerful punch of color and print to a sofa, chair or bed.
Orla Kiely Acorn Wallpaper
The Acorn wallpaper has a fun and groovy retro vibe. It’s powerful enough to use on one accent wall — for example, on the wall behind a headboard.
Love these prints so much you want to wear them? You can find them on everything from skirts to umbrellas.
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Alexander Girard
Marimekko Textiles
Missoni Textiles
Love these prints so much you want to wear them? You can find them on everything from skirts to umbrellas.
More Modern Icons:
Alexander Girard
Marimekko Textiles
Missoni Textiles