Gina Everett
Feb 7, 2019
Olenka Designs is the bright and colourful floral wallpaper brand of artist Olga Shevchenko. Read on to discover more about this new and vibrant interiors brand, see Gina’s styling of the wallpaper and enter our competition to win a £200 voucher to spend at Olenka Wallpaper.
Olga's story
Olga grew up in Russia where, when her parents noticed that she spent most of her spare time drawing they sent her to an art school as her mother was convinced this would lead her to her future career.
At school she studied drawing and painting learning about traditional Khokhloma. Dating back to the 17th century it is a traditional Russian folk art of wood painting. We usually recognise this style from the patterns we see on Russian wooden dolls but it is also commonly seen in Russia on traditional tableware such as wooden spoons and bowls.
Whilst she was younger Olga was convinced she would grow up to work in a toy factory painting pretty faces on wooden dolls. However eventually she became a surface pattern designer with a global flooring company where she learnt about working with pattern repeats and colourways.
“It was a lucky accident that pointed me in the right direction. I learnt about trends and how the industry worked. I always wondered how none of those beautiful Russian folk patterns had not been applied to homeware products.”
An aha! moment came as Olga came across an old picture of her art school teacher whilst researching the history of Khokhloma design. She remembered her words from a Khokhloma lesson, “You never know when you might need it in the future,” and was inspired to launch the wallpaper brand dedicated to Russia’s rich craft and folk art heritage.
Styling a room with Olenka Wallpaper
The Olenka wallpaper range consists of hand drawn designs by Olga featuring flowers leaves and berries which are traditional elements of Khokhloma. There are currently 3 different designs Milana, Neva and Velina in a range of colour ways. Additionally there is the option to go bespoke. Choose your design and work it to a colour which exactly suits your design scheme colour palette. Perfect for interior designers. Also coming soon is a range of textiles too.
Gina decided on the deep rich blue of the Milana design in a graphite blue to style this dining room.
Gina says, “Alongside the trend for dark interiors there’s definitely a move towards more vibrant pattern. Wallpapers are coming to into their own in adding instant colour and impact into a room. "
"I loved the beautiful graphic flowers and deep colour in this design. It complemented the natural elements of warm wood perfectly in the room.”
"As well as the dining room the designs work beautifully in the bedroom. Especially the Neva Blue design I’ve used. Pretty, floral light and feminine it creates a relaxing ambience when paired with crisp white cotton sheets alongside elegant lighting and accessories."
Win £200 to spend at olenkadesigns.co.uk
Olenka wallpapers are offering one of our lucky readers a £200 voucher to spend in their store on their beautiful range of wallpapers.
Simply click to enter the competition. If you are viewing on a mobile you can click here.
*T&Cs: The prize on offer is £200 to spend on wallpaper at www.olenkadesigns.co.uk. One winner will be picked to receive the prize. The winner will be notified by email and the prize will be sent directly from Olenka Designs. As an additional entry you may choose to subscribe to the mailing list of Create Perfect giving us your consent to contact you with occasional news and offers. For more information about how we manage your data please refer to the Create Perfect privacy policy. Competition open to UK entrants only. Good Luck! - https://www.createperfect.co.uk/terms-and-conditions
Disclosure: This post has been written in collaboration with Olenka Designs who have provided the competition prize in exchange for the blog post. All opinions are honest and open as we only work with BRANDS WE LOVE.