This shop has now closed but you can check out Olli Ella’s products at olliella.com
What?: Cute interiors brand founded on the idea that just because something is made for a nursery, it needn’t look out of place elsewhere. Founded in 2009 by sisters Olivia and Chloe Brookman, this stylish brand started life when the art-history-and-design-graduate siblings designed and made a nursing chair for Chloe when she was expecting her first baby, and launched with three nursing chairs the following year and a baby-bedding collection soon after. Today Olli Ella’s covetable collection includes cool, contemporary furniture and textiles, artisan-made storage baskets, pastel-perfect wall art and an adorable menagerie of cartoon softies and rattles – all designed to look as awesome outside the nursery as in it.
Where?: St. John Street, Islington. This dinky flagship is just a three-minute walk from Angel tube, which I was excited to discover is totally step-free! I mean sure, it has two gigantic escalators that make you feel like you’re descending into the depths of hell, but I’m sure you’ll agree that the depths of hell are preferable to lifting a toddler-loaded buggy up some steps.
Price Range: Toys and teethers start at around £7, while wall art and baskets begin at £25. The big-ticket items are obviously the nursing chairs, which range from £795-£975, though the idea is that these become part of your permanent living-room setup long after you’ve finished breastfeeding. I mean you’d hope so, wouldn’t you. I managed 10 days of trying to squeeze colostrum out of my sore, cracked nipples before Bab was readmitted to hospital suffering from malnutrition and we switched to bottles, so these chairs would work out at a pretty high cost-per-use for me if I couldn’t use them post-boobing.
Best Bits: Olli Ella stocks a brilliant selection of Danish furniture brand Flexa’s paint-dipped stools and side tables, which will look amazing in literally every room of the house. I also love the own-brand Piki and Luggy baskets, which come in a range of cute candy colours, and want to collect all five of Julia Staite’s cat softies.
Worst Bits: I’m struggling to get on board with the idea of a reclining nursing chair since they kind of remind me a bit of those chairs old people have in nursing homes. I think my fear of them is partly down to the lingering trauma of my horrible breastfeeding experience, but if you’re lucky enough to be able to do it and want a nice squishy chair to do it in then this shop is the place to find it.
Did We Buy?: We bought a Julia Staite Confetti Cat in blue.
Would We Come Back?: We’ll definitely return for a nosey next time we’re in Islington.
Bab ignores her Julia Staite Confetti Cat from Olli Ella, Islington, just like she ignores all the toys I buy her
bablands.com 