Our Story

Charlotte Marra (head designer and founder of Ottoline Interiors) has a background in fine art and holds Master's degrees in Art History, Theory and Criticism. These studies embedded Charlotte firmly in the art world and subsequently she spent ten years working in galleries across the globe as a gallery director. Charlotte's career has taken her from New York, through Chicago, Zurich, and London to her current home in Charleston, SC. The urge to return to a more creative bent set her on a path to transform the ways in which we design and equip our children's nurseries, playrooms and bedrooms. 

This began as a personal crusade when Charlotte's daughter Audrey Ottoline was born. The great design impresario William Morris once famously said ‘have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or beautiful.’ Charlotte took this dictum to heart when decorating her angel's bedroom-come-nursery in London. As any parent will know, anything that can aid sound sleep for little ones is an absolute must and black out blinds and shades will often be at the top of new parent wish lists. However, Charlotte found only drab greys and white pull-down shades in her searches, which while clearly ‘useful’ could not quite claim to be beautiful. 

Faced with a plain blackout blind and a lack of attractive options on the market, Charlotte took matters into her own hands and painted a mural on a blind - something that Audrey Ottoline could look up at and be comforted by, something that was beautiful - and so Audrey the Bunny, shade #1 was created. The shades were quickly followed by reading stools, quilts, rugs and more - each thematically linked together and all presented in Charlotte's signature hand-painted style featuring elegant bunnies and friendly giraffes. This was the point at which Ottoline Interiors truly was born as an idea and an ambition. 

Ottoline Interiors places a child's sophisticated imagination at the heart of our ethos. Inspiration for the designs come from a rich variety of sources; but in particular Charlotte is drawn to Victorian illustrations, botanical drawings, French lithographs and Italian textiles. Further to pure design credentials the spur of a bygone age informs creative bent behind Ottoline Interiors. There is a clear aim to imagine a time where children were free to drive their imagination themselves and have the opportunity to peer into different worlds without the need for guidance by television or video games. Charlotte’s aim has always been to take classic form and classic subjects and render them in an engaging and timeless manner – intricate enough to keep any child fascinated but still retaining simple pastoral themes that have wrapped up children’s minds in dream-like wonder for centuries. Ottoline Interiors can allow children to be completely immersed within that fantastical dream like world.