Born in London in 2009, Olli Ella has grown to become a global home décor brand for the modern family, with an ever-expanding collection of nursing chairs, rugs, nursery furniture, 100% cotton organic baby bedding and more. Founded on the belief that just because something is made for a nursery, it needn’t look out of place elsewhere. With a sense of innocence and playfulness running throughout, Olli Ella’s signature look is effortless and understated, in a nostalgic yet modern palette of muted pastels, blues and poppy sherbet shades.
Like many of the best ideas, Olli Ella started as a happy accident. After not being able to find a nursing chair to fit the eclectic feel of her first child’s nursery, Chloe Brookman, 33, and her sister Olivia, 31 decided to design a chair themselves. Six months later they were making chairs for other expectant friends; within another three months Olli Ella launched, with Harrods as its first stockist. Having spent their formative years in Sydney, the carefree, relaxed Australian lifestyle informs Olli Ella’s designs while celebrating the sophistication and quality of English products. “The nursery represents all of the love, excitement and dreams that we have for our new babies. We set out to combine aesthetics and practicality, in order to create warm, inviting spaces that will grow with our children, ” explain the sisters, who define their style as “soft modern with vintage bones” and “mid-century meets bohemia”.
Chloe is known as Australia’s storage sweetheart and I was lucky enough to pick her brain on some top tips for decorating your space... x
We love your design style – Can you tell us about the creative process you go through when designing/choosing your products?
Thank you so much! Our creative process always involves a lot of skyping back and forth to start with (Olivia, my partner, runs the UK office) - lots of brainstorming and mood-board creating. After this we go into the design phase where we work together to produce the designs, and from that point we go into sampling with our manufacturers. The process to launch a new product usually takes any where from 3 to 6 months
Where do you get your design inspiration from?
From our families, our travels, flea markets are also a huge source of inspiration for us, and the way we like to live in our own homes. We are inspired by effortless, relaxed living and try to design products that facilitate that.
What are your top design and decorating tips?
We love seeing how our products find places in the homes of our customers, all who share such different aesthetics and styles. For us, we are all for having fun with designing and decorating your space, using layers, choosing materials that are organic and natural, and basically making the space you live as comfortable and effortless as possible.
Do you have any trade secrets for incorporating colour into the home?
You're asking someone who has a 7 foot ostrich painted onto a bright yellow canvas smack bang in the middle of her living room!
3 words to describe your style?
Effortless, eclectic, playful
What can we expect next for Olli Ella?
Our new Moroccan rug range is launching in 8 weeks! Fairtrade and made using 100% NZ wool, each rug is hand-knotted on a loom by our craftsmen. We cannot wait!
