Behind The Brand: Beginnings, Motives & Mission

Beginnings

This is me, Ellie, owner and designer at Ulterior Motif Designs. 

I have a long love affair with fabrics and interiors, stretching back to first sitting at my Grandmothers dining room table, learning to make cushions with her. I still have those early attempts in my room today. 

I started out as an interior decorator, during which time I became fascinated with our everyday environments and what makes our homes feel like sanctuary. I decided I wanted to incorporate my love of drawing and design into my life along with my passion for travel, interiors and creating unique spaces. I attended Loughborough University and studied Surface Pattern Design and this is where I fell in love with silk screen printing. 

From working out repeats, to prepping screens and fabric, mixing print paste and finally committing designs to fabric, the connection to the making process and attention to detail combined to give me a great understanding of pattern for interiors. This love of process and exploration and experimentation has fed into my practice today. 

Creativity, passion and skilled making are core values of what I do.

Passion & Purpose

Disillusioned with the big print houses and mass production, I decided to start my own company, creating designs that truly inspire me and incorporating a more ethical approach.

My designs are inspired by cultural exploration and the natural world. I love the hidden and overlooked spaces, the quirks and stories of different localities, and the natural beauty of the world around us. Influenced by the principles of Morris, Ruskin, and using a mix of traditional hand made artisan techniques and modern technology, I explore these themes through fabric, drawing and print processes to create collections that are rich and complex. 

I tend to steer clear of trends, instead creating timeless, classical yet contemporary designs that will continue to delight and inspire for years. Through scale, colour, texture and touch, each design is crafted to produce a sense of whimsical nostalgia with a voguish twist.   

My aim is to celebrate creative abandon, help make your space your own, and celebrate individuality through avant-garde, great design. 

Consciously Creative

As well as constantly looking for new fabrics and suppliers that are environmentally friendly, I donate a percentage of profits made via the website to charities and organisation that are helping to protect and restore that habitats and species that inspire so many of my ideas. 

Ulterior Motif Designs is a proud supporter of Ecologi, a company that supports responsible tree planting in the UK and around the World, working to offset carbon emissions and help to educate on the impact it has. You can follow the business forest via the link: https://ecologi.com/ulteriormotifdesigns. 

I work on a made to order, bespoke basis. Each product is designed and made in house before being sent out to its new home.

Created with longevity in mind, these unique, artistic pieces are destined to become much loved heirlooms that will last not just season after season, but year after year.

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