The Oriana B. Blog

This week we've been blown away by the response to our Insta post featuring our new black and gold wall cabinet.  We always knew this was a winning piece and the feedback proved it!

Wall cabinets are so handy because they work on so many levels.  For starters they get stuff off the floor and if you have limited floor space, that's a winning characteristic!   Open wall cabinets work really well for displaying treasured pieces collected on your travels.  We love the Madam Stoltz gold wall shelf for this as its a really simple way of showing your best bits!

This wall cabinet is a little bigger and comes with shelves and gorgeous reeded glass doors.  There is something endlessly fascinating about cabinets with glass doors - the barely seen objects behind acquire a certain mystery that make them irresistible!  And because the doors on this cabinet are reeded, they render everything inside into a smokey outline.

We also love the gold detailing on this cabinet.  It runs round the rim of the doors and also the handles which gives the whole piece a thought out definition.  The gold rimmed doors hide a capacious cabinet where you can store plenty of bits and pieces.

And then there's the other benefit of wall cabinets - they dress the wall.  They allow you to create your own art as whether they are open or closed, you decide how they look and that has to be the number one goal for your interior - making it individual to you.

The Oriana B. June 2020 Hot List

Welcome to our inaugural monthly hot list!  We’ll be sharing cool things to do, interiors stuff, events and whatever is generally on our mind for the month.  And of course, a monthly competition to win a €50 online voucher! 

This month we are all getting ready for a summer at home in the new normal state which means lots of home entertainment, house re-arranging and a few outdoor socially distanced activities!  So to help you through, we’ve rounded up a few of our favourite things to do and see in June.

Stay safe, it’s all gonna be ok!

Katharine & the Oriana B. team x

Things to Do: Drive-in Cinema

Remember all those cool 50's style American Drive-in movies?   Well it’s coming to Ireland this summer so you can enjoy cinema whilst safely social distancing!

This is a modern take on classic drive-in cinema, expect to see films of the 80s, Irish favourites and modern-day hits (please let them release the new Top Gun) that you know and love all from the comfort and safety of your car. They are even doing day time screenings for kids!  So provided you live within the specified distance, Retro Drivein Movies could be the great night out you’ve been craving.  Launching in Leopardstown, Fairyhouse, Kilkenny & Galway with more exciting venues on the way.

Vintage shopping: Auctions

If you are missing out on the thrill of the chase in finding unusual bits and pieces for your home from the usual haunts of car boot sales, antique shops, charity shops and markets, then why not try an auction?  This month, lots of auctions from Cavan to Cork are taking place online with auctioneers really happy to store purchases until restrictions lift or despatch via contactless courier.  Checkout EasyLiveAuction for listings.  We are particularly excited about the auction of Into the Badlands props that Sean Eacrett Antiques are holding on 29^th June.

This year World Environment Day falls on 5^th June.  Oriana B. started as a place to buy original mid century furniture and homewares as we love the frisson of seeing older characterful pieces combined with modern design.  Bringing older furniture into your home also contributes to reducing our environmental footprint so we are big believers in combining the old and the new.

Do you have an older piece of furniture that needs fixing, restoration or reupholstery so it fits into your interior scheme?  If so, get in touch!  We are really happy to recommend artisans who can help bring a great piece back to life and we can also help with fabrics if it’s new upholstery that’s needed.  Just email us at hello@orianab.com and send a photo if you can.

What else are we doing?  We reuse as much as our packaging as possible.  This means that if you receive an order from us, it’s often in a box from someone else or has been double packed in spare cardboard.  We also use scrunched up newspaper instead of brand new packaging and where possible, loose furniture is transported using specialist couriers who reuse blankets and packing.

We already use lots of artisans based in Ireland and we are increasingly trying to source more Ireland based makers as we expand our range.  If you have a recommendation, let us know as we love finding new makers. 

What I’m taking home from the collection this month?

As we continually add to our collection,  I find I fall in love with certain items and they make it back from the store to home.  This month I have totally fallen for our Cool Cherub.  He is really white and wears sunglasses so I love styling him up amongst lots of houseplants.  Then I imagine him as an Italian statue in the gardens which reminds me of all the lovely places there are in the world and which I will definitely be visiting when this is all over!  He also looks pretty cool on the shelf behind me when doing the daily Zoom calls! 

Father’s Day Ideas

Father’s Day is on 21^st June and it’s going to be a strange one whilst we are all still practising social distancing measures.  Plenty of us will be unable to visit our Dads so we came up with a few ideas to try and make it a bit fun:

Breakfast in Bed: it’s an oldie but a goodie!  Get him up on time with the very masculine Newgate Wideboy Alarm Clock.  He’ll be so pleased to see your smiling face, he won’t mind at all that it’s 6am!

Play a game of sports: from June 8^th, small sporting activities will be allowed and your Dad has been missing out on the big game.  So why not head down to your local community sports field and play some hurling, tennis or footie with your old Da.  Of course, you need to remember to let him win…

And finally, if none of those seems like quite the ticket, then order in some Dude Food for a good old BBQ.  We’ve tried Bujo and Asador which won’t disappoint and there are plenty of other great food boxes round the country from brilliant small food makers and chefs.

Competition Time!

Fancy winning €50 to spend at Oriana B.????  Yessssss! 

For our inaugural June Hot List competition, we thought we’d start with a home rearranging theme.  Have you found that being at home has compelled you to move the furniture around?  If so, we’d love to see it – just share a photo on your Facebook or Instagram page for your chance to win.

All you need to do to enter the competition is:

1. Take a picture of your home rearranging – just after is fine but before and after even better!
2. Head over to Instagram or Facebook and post the picture to your feed. You'll need to use our handle @orianabinteriors and @orianab and hashtags #orianab and #movingthefurniture to make sure we get your entry.
3. Competition is open until Sunday 28^th June when we will pick a winner to be announced in our July Hot List! 

And finally our June Mood Board

I’ve spent lots of time looking at classical landscapes this month to find inspiration for creating composed roomscapes.  The key thing is a large, usually white ruin which really pops and plenty of flora and fauna – mostly green but sometimes monochrome.  It definitely informed several of this month’s insta shots and I’m loving using the white stag’s head and other little contrasting pieces to create compositions.

Have a lovely month and see you in July!