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Tell us more about yourselves and your business.
In 2019, Katharine had tired of a 25-year international corporate career and wanted to tap into her creative side more fully. Alannah was fast making a name for herself as an interiors stylist, having switched from journalism to interior design after university. Both of us really felt that the market for interiors was quite homogeneous in Ireland, with a lot of similar product and both hankered for bolder, more creative choices, but without needing to spend big in the likes of Roche Bobois or similar.
It felt like consumers were being asked to pay a high price for mediocre design and questionable comfort and functionality.
What have you learned so far in business?
Have a good understanding of your finances and the margin in your products and services. This guides how you invest in the business and make decisions about what to do and how. In a creative business, the other key fundamental is to stick to your creative north star. It’s very tempting to copy what looks successful elsewhere, but if it’s not true to you, then the customer spots that lack of authenticity, and it becomes much harder to set yourself apart from the crowd.
What has been the most challenging time for you in business?
Without a doubt 2023. We had realised that retailing products wasn’t being true to our creative selves and we needed to make the decision to invest in designing and building our own ranges. By that point in time, we had curated a range of over 1,000 beautiful items from sofas to candlesticks for customers’ homes.
The task of redesigning all of that was daunting not to mention the financial investment required. But we knew that this was the future for us as creatives and also for the brand. We made a substantial loss in 2023, and it felt very scary at the time, especially when it took 12 months for the first products to complete sampling, get refined, built and shipped. But the bet paid off, and by the end of 2024, we had returned to profitability and could really start to see the shoots of Oriana B as it is today.
What sets your products apart from other items in the Irish market?
Our products showcase authentic design, pay close attention to detail and usability and come at an affordable price point for the quality and finish. These elements resonate with customers who want to create a polished yet characterful home which feels hospitable and welcoming. Our use of quality materials has also been much appreciated. Our cabinetry is largely solid wood rather than veneered, our lighting is mostly made in brass, and our mirror frames are hand-carved wood rather than resin.
How have consumers responded to what you do?
The proof is in the pudding! Edition 01, which featured over 90 items, sold out, and for some items are now into the third production run. We only produce in small batches and everything is hand-made. Edition 02 arrived late summer/ Autumn 2025 and has been really well received, in particular our Sunburst Sideboard and the Delphi Petite Consoles, which now have a long waiting list for restocks. We are looking forward to samples for Edition 03 arriving very soon, and on the strength of the success of furniture, lighting and mirrors, we are working on a new rug range and a new cushion range.
Where do you look for inspiration?
Alannah is a natural artist and Katharine spends a lot of time in art galleries. You get so many ideas from design motifs and colour combinations. But there is also the furniture that has come before. We both spend a lot of time looking at pieces made any time from the 18th to 20th centuries but then we might update it for now or add a twist to make it more like us.
You can see that in designs like the Barley Table, which is a classic 19th-century twist design, but we enamelled it to make it more contemporary. Or the Sunburst Bar Cabinet – the design comes from that fabulous use of the sunburst pattern by Italian furniture makers like Ico Parisi or Gio Ponti, but we wanted it on doors, and we wanted a bit more weight to it, so we had to update and amend to make it fit the piece of furniture.
Describe your workspace.
Currently, we have an office in our studio in Fairview, Dublin. It’s absolutely full of samples, cut-outs from magazines, bits of fabric and the usual office paraphernalia, so this is where a lot of conversations happen. But we travel a lot to meet with makers, and go to trade shows, and we do a lot of talking whilst walking, which is really freeing as it allows ideas to develop over a longer period of time. When we are not together, we exchange photos and WhatsApp messages constantly – the Atsushi Kaga exhibit at the Douglas Hyde was a major source of inspiration recently.
Describe a typical working day.
From about 8am onwards, it’s answering messages – our factories are mostly in India and China so a lot can happen overnight when we are in the design phase, and it’s fabulous to wake up to a bunch of new samples.
From about 10am, the real work starts when the studio opens. Alannah is Creative Director so guides the creative process across all our product development and is also ultimately responsible for the interior design studio. This means that she might be straight to site before coming into the studio.
The rest of the day is spent following up on design tasks, linking in with the design team, talking to clients and following up on project sourcing. Katharine runs the operational side of the business so will often have meetings with trade partners and suppliers and is either in our studio in Fairview or in our main operational location in Baldoyle. She is not afraid of a spreadsheet.
How important is collaboration to what you do?
Collaboration is undoubtedly the key to success. Ideas need to become reality, and that is often a team effort. For example, we will have an idea for a piece of furniture and will draw up how we think it will work, but we need the input from our furniture designers to tease out how the details work and turn into reality. The process often throws up other options which inevitably lead to refinement of the final design. The same happens with interior design, especially with retrofit when you find something that won’t work with the original idea. You have to adapt, and this is always a collaborative process with our contractors and tradespeople.
What’s next for Oriana B this year?
Aside from Edition 03, we are currently working on a very exciting fitted furniture product, which we are hoping to unveil later in the year. We are also really looking forward to photographing some of the larger interior design projects that we’ve been working on for most of 2025.
Address Book:
The Oriana B flagship store is at 19 Esmond Ave, Fairview, Dublin 3. You can also find their products at The 1933 Furniture Company, Beechmount Homepark, Navan, Co. Meath. Follow Oriana B on Instagram at @orianabinteriors and view the store online at orianab.com.
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