Cool Stuff: Orla Kiely for Heals

London-based design darling Orla Kiely's brand-new furniture pieces for UK home furnishings chain Heal's have been making their way around the blogosphere over the last few days. And for good reason -- Kiely's femmed-up, midcentury-inspired chairs, tables, and sideboards are seriously cute.

Unfortunately, with the current exchange rate they're also seriously out of reach. The Cupboard at top, for instance is 1,395 pounds (or about $2,474), while the Dining Chair and Occasional Table above are 250 and 495 pounds ($443 and $878).

But I was clicking around on the Heal's site admiring them, anyway, when I saw that Kiely has also designed some great bedding, bath linens, and office storage items for the British retailer. And those wares, at least, are actually reasonably affordable:

Flower Blossom Print Bedding, 28 to 85 pounds ($50 to $151)

Large Storage Box, 40 pounds ($71)

Multi Stem Embroidered Towels, 6 to 26 pounds ($11 to $46)

Scribble Stem Print Bedding, 24 to 85 pounds ($43 to $151)

Sadly, Heal's won't ship outside of the UK. But maybe you have an extra-nice British friend who could post a packet off to you or smuggle over a bit of Orla goodness on his or her next visit? (Jo-Anne, David, and Amanda: Yes, I'm talking to you.)

Check out the entire Orla Kiely collection for Heal's right here.

Cool Stuff: Orla Kiely Housewares

I was poking around a bit this weekend on the freshly redesigned website for London-based designer Orla Kiely, and found several things for my ever-expanding and increasingly mythological Wish List. (I've said it before and I'll say it again: Damn the U.S. dollar for being so weak that it makes almost all of the loveliness coming out of the UK these days utterly out of my reach!)

Of course, Ms. Kiely is best known for her gorgeous bags and clothing -- but I tend to salivate over the home goods.

Take a look:

Patterned Notebooks, 16 to 20 pounds sterling (about $32 to $40) each

Flower Oval, Multi Flower Abacus, and Scribble Stem mugs, 10 pounds ($20) each

Multi Stem Shade, Flower Abacus Shade, and Flower Blossom Shade, 95 pounds ($190) each

Stem Print Blanket, 235 pounds ($470)

Stem Print Cushion, 165 pounds ($330)

Big Tulip and Rowan Tree wallpaper, 60 pounds ($120) a roll

My product lust was whipped up to such a degree, though, that I did finally bite the bullet and order a roll of Orla Kiely's Flower Blossom Wallpaper, which I'd been pining over for awhile. (I got it from Anthropologie, where it's a comparatively affordable $88 a roll.)

I'm going to showcase a few lengths of it with the Poster Hanger system from Rare Device, and I may back a trio of bookshelves in our living room with the paper as well. (Other ideas for using wallpaper in novel ways? Lemme know.)

Check out the Orla Kiely site -- and get your own mythological Wish List started -- right here.

eBay Find of the Day: Midcentury Drapes

As the seller notes, UK-based "It Girl" designer Orla Kiely was clearly inspired by an original midcentury motif like this when she created her line of Alpine Forest-print goods.

Aren't these vintage (but never-used) drapes fun? Even if you think they'd be a bit much framing a window, you could use the yards of material (each panel measures 84 by 40 inches) to make some great throw pillows, chair cushions, tote bags, or funky fabric art.

Current bid: $50 for the pair

Objects of Lust: Orla Kiely Car-Print Travel Bags

Oooh -- I wish I'd had one of these adorable Orla Kiely Wheelie or Weekend bags for my trip to Portland last week, or for some future getaway to someplace wonderful.

I also wish I was one of those women you see jauntily wheeling a smart little overnight bag through the airport, her straight blond hair pulled into a sleek ponytail, expensive sunglasses shielding her eyes, a chic belted coat nipped in at her tiny waist, and some serious-looking heels poking out from under a pair of impossibly long dark-rinse jeans -- and not, you know, this frizzy-haired mess wearing sweats and flip-flops and trying to cram two weeks' worth of junk into a boringly sturdy and generic suitcase while her kids squabble and "flight delayed" flashes on the Departures screen.

In other words, it ain't gonna happen. But a girl can dream, right?

Available for $300 and $400 each from Neiman Marcus.