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The Power of One

From the iconic Scott sofa in the Parlour Room of EZ Living Interiors’ Sandyford store, Style Stories podcast presenter Laura O’Keeffe and Orla Neligan chat real, relatable and multi-functional style.

In the era of multi-faceted jobs, Orla Neligan references herself as a visual storyteller; in other words, a creative director, stylist and journalist across lifestyle, interiors and food, for companies from Kerrygold to Java Republic, while copy writing and styling photography for cookbooks by the likes of Darina Allen and Catherine Fulvio.

At the helm of Irish creative media studio, Cornershop, she confesses to a love of quirky briefs which have seen her take to dizzying heights in a cherry picker to choose a tree for a Bulmers advertisement.

But it’s in the detail of revealing how her style has evolved, especially her passion for comic books and magazines, where we see the influence of her childhood which has made its way into her personal space in adulthood.

“My home is in dire need of an upgrade but it’s home for now,” she reveals. “I’ve been going up and down to Kerry since I was a kid ‘cause my parents have a house there, so I definitely think there’s a nod to the rustic seaside living. There’s a lot of wood, natural textures and earthy colours.”

She also cites bringing back a bed spread from France and coral from Australia; her granny’s mirror hanging in her sitting room, a watercolour, and a print gifted by her parents of David Hockney’s famous Mr and Mrs Clarke and Percy painting.

 

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Cornershop Productions x Sculpted by Aimee

Clearly, endearing links to her early years and family life are a recurring theme, but what is inspiring Orla Neligan in the present?

In her work, there’s a leit motif of one item really earning its keep.

“I do love the idea of repurposing something so we’re not always thinking we have to buy, buy, buy,” she says. “It’s just about reframing something. Sometimes when you move something from one room to another you see it in a different light.”

An item every home has, and one deployed by Orla for styling projects is the humble tray.

“They’re really good styling tools for pulling all your bits and bobs together making them look organised, like a mini-vignette that looks pretty,” she says. “I like the idea that you don’t have to go to a shop and buy something, that you can repurpose what you have.”

Books are another item Orla reinvents with multi-function we might not have considered.

“They’re little plinths for styling or highlighting little objects you might like,” she says. “When I’m styling sets it’s really important for me to choose the right size and spine for a book and the colour. They look great on a shelf stacked horizontally or vertically with objects on them.”

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Cornershop Productions x Pippa Collection

But while she maintains we have what we need to style our spaces, does she practice what she preaches at home?

“I had a stack of hats in my room gathering dust,” she says. “I got some hooks and hung them on my wall so it’s a big display wall of hats now. The same would go for this rattan basket I have I actually ordered for a shoot but I didn’t look at the size properly and when it arrived it was massive; the biggest rattan basket I had ever seen, and I couldn’t use it for the shoot but I ended up using it in the kitchen for a while with utensil jars in it and then I hung it on a wall as a display.”

Now that days are getting shorter and we’re preparing to hunker down for winter, our focus on indoor living, especially entertaining, creates opportunities for interiors enthusiasts to take the blank canvas of their dining table and get creative with tablescaping, something which features in Orla’s work, especially when it comes to food styling.

“I would use greenery and flowers from the garden,” says Orla. “I do like to anchor the table with a good runner, a linen runner, and I would layer that with a nice centrepiece that could be a bowl of fruit, or it could be a vase, a potted plant, bud vases, layering plates, and candlelight. If all else fails, use candles.”

 For anyone looking for a simple styling idea, Orla looks to nature and something organic. “It helps ground it, helps it feel natural and relatable, and adds personality as well,” she says. “Try to work art into any budget. It doesn’t have to be something expensive; it could be a photograph or a trinket you’ve picked up on your holidays, but art really has a way of not just decorating but elevating a space and linking it to the personal.”

Listen to Style Stories Episode 8 wherever you get your podcasts, or click the button below.

Listen Here

Follow Orla  - https://www.instagram.com/oneligan/

Follow Cornershop Productions  - https://www.instagram.com/cornershopproductions/