Allen Designs

Artist Michelle Allen was searching for just the right career when she found her heart being filled while creating whimsical home products to sell at the local street fair in Encinitas, California.
One year later, Michelle, her husband Gary and then one-year-old daughter, moved to the Northwest USA and began selling her wares at the famed year-round Portland Saturday Market. Over the next few years, she attended juried art fairs throughout the US and began selling directly to retail stores who saw her products there. The rest, as they say, is history and today Allen Designs is now part of the Enesco group, continuing to sell to stores all over the USA along with distribution in Europe and Australia, reaching retailers around the globe.

Today, Allen Designs is an exciting new range of homeware pieces from wall hanging clocks to ceramic planters and everything in between. From American artist Michelle Allen, each and every piece features fun whimsical designs to help bring a quirky yet super stylish touch to homes.

The wall hanging clocks are a best-seller of the collection; each piece is cast in stone with a pendulum swing, hand painted and battery operated. Blessed Nest Clock stands at 42.0cm tall and is the prettiest cerulean colour, with big pink flowers, green leaves, and happy blue birds. From pretty pastels to party time, Allen Design’s Happy Hour Wine Clock is sure to get the party started come wine o’clock in your kitchen. Standing at 39.5cm tall, it features an orange octopus holding classes of wine in its tentacles, and a bottle of red forms the swinging pendulum piece. Both Blessed Nest Clock and Happy Hour Wine Clock retail with a SRP of £69.95 and while are functional pieces, they make beautiful pieces of art in their own right too.

Allen’s planters are also big hits with customers. Like the wall hanging clocks, each planter is made from cast stone, with pieces across the collection available in small, large and super-sized. With each piece capturing the artist’s wonderfully whimsical style, customers are sure to love the super-sized Sun Planter with its bright rays and smiling face, the large Baby Pretty Kitty Planter with its pretty floral details to the pussycat’s ears, and the Baby Flew the Coup Planter created in the shape of a little black hen. Measuring between 12.0cm and 15.0cm, the planters retail with a SRP starting from £19.95.

As well as home décor pieces, the Allen Designs collection includes some stylish yet functional kitchen accessories pieces too, in the same signature style that artist Michelle Allen has become known for. Included within the kitchen accessories are shopper bags, aprons, tea towels and more.

A firm favourite is the Cat and Bird Shopper Bag – measuring at 38.0cm tall and made from polypropylene, it is the perfect combination of durability and size to carry large grocery store hauls. Functional yet fun too with its abstract presentation of a cat and bird in bright tones of greens, red and blues, this bag is too good to be stuffed into a storage cupboard when not in use and would look lovely hanging proudly in any kitchen.

A huge hit with foodies and culinary kitchen novices alike, the Cup of Tea Apron is simply lovely. The adjustable apron is made from 100% cotton and sturdy canvas material, with a re-sizable neck strap, making these adult-sized aprons perfect for anyone. The joyous bright yellow fabric is certainly durable, yet flexible enough for every day comfort, and the delicate artwork of a bone china cup sprouting hot pink and bright orange florals is sure to be your customers’ cup of tea.

After a busy day of grocery shopping, food prep and cooking, it’s time to tidy up – and the perfect kitchen companion is the Flower Blast Tea Towel. Featuring fun foliage in hues of pinks, oranges, greens and blues, the 100% cotton tea towel adds the perfect pop of colour and personality to any kitchen. The fabric is structured enough to lay beautifully on display, and softens up once washed for a comfortable, lived in look and feel.

Finally, within the Allen Designs collection are 12 water bottles, with designs including Bird Water Bottle, Crazy Cats Water Bottle, and Flower Blast Water Bottler to name but a few. The bottles are made from stainless steel and are double skinned, helping to keep cold drinks cool for up to 24 hours and hot drinks warm for up to 12 hours.

Standing tall at 26.0cm and retailing with a SRP of £19.95 each, not only are the water bottles from Allen Designs entirely practical whether taking a drink to the gym, enjoying a hot cuppa on the commute into work, or something to sip throughout the day while on the go, they are heavily stylised too. Featuring artwork presented across other pieces from the whole Allen Designs Kitchen Collection for a highly coordinated and collectable appeal, each water bottle is pretty and practical in equal measures