About

"Hello, I’m Kirsty Norris BA (Hons), a printed and embroidered textile designer with 27 years experience designing bedding. Designing textiles for the home has been the focus of my career for many years, and after all these years experience I have decided to start my very own brand, House of Norris. My love for design has led me to create products I am truly inspired by. I aim to bring high end design into a place that can be accessible for more people. I want them to make their homes beautiful- with high end designs with impeccable attention to detail that lights up a room and makes a home really special. Inspired mostly by nature I draw and paint animals, foliage and flowers- my work is extremely detailed and I love to add pattern and colour to produce vivid and eye-catching designs. I have developed a style that I want to stand out as my own. I lost my father a few years ago and I would absolutely love to continue his family name through my brand, and show my children and family that if you are passionate about something and you work hard at it - you can achieve your dreams! I hope you love my products and enjoy having them in your home!"

The Story Behind the House of Norris Brand

Kirsty Norris BA(Hons) the creator of the brand "House of Norris" is a printed textile designer with 27 years experience designing products for fashion and the home. Born in Chichester in the UK she was brought up in a small village in the heart of the Sussex countryside called Steyning. "I loved Art and everything about design, it was a flare and a passion of mine from the outset" says Kirsty. She was strongly supported by her family who saw how much passion she had for art. "All I did was paint and draw! My dad bought me an easel for my birthday one year, it was all I ever wanted! I could get lost in art which was my happy place all those years ago and still is to this day" she says.

She was always inspired by art, and loved painting and drawing. After many years of painting and drawing at home in 1994 she went on to start a 2 year BTEC National Diploma at Brighton College of Technology and specialised in textiles. She was leaning towards expressing herself through embroidery, which to this day she is still strongly passionate about. "My dream was to go to art college, it was all I had ever wanted to do!" says Kirsty "It enabled me to try a variety of mediums from graphics, to metal work, to textiles. I loved textiles the most and felt really comfortable behind a sewing machine".

Marks and Spencer's

Swatch Loft

Kas Australia

After completing her Dilploma in 1996 she went on to study Fashion Textiles with Business Studies to complete a BA (Hons) at The University of Brighton. In 1999 She went to on to do a series of placements in her year out as part of course where she moved to London to work in London at a company called "Gilbey and Cheyne". The ladies that ran this design studio based in Hackney, Louise Gilbey and Sarah Cheyne gave Kirsty a shot at achieving her dream, and gave her a 6 month placement where they helped her learn a design technique that lead to her selling many designs, for home wear and fashion. They taught her everything she needed to know to help her become an accomplished designer. Kirsty sold a lot of her design work in the UK, America, Paris, Italy and Japan. She attended many trade shows around the globe with Gilbey and Cheyne and also went on to complete a placement at Clarrisa Hulse in Angel Islington, and London Portfolio in New York; a busy design studio in the Fashion District in the center of Manhatten. In this time frame Kirsty sold her work to Anne Klein, Liz Claiborne, Bed Bath and Table, Talbots, and Ralph Lauren. In the UK She sold to Marks and Spencer, Selfridges, House of Fraser, Debenhams, The Pier, Heals, BHS, John Lewis, Next, Kookai, Ted Baker, and Caroline Charles. She travelled to Paris many times to exhibit her work at Premiere Vision (A fashion trade show) , to New York to exhibit at Surtex (a surface design fair) and Germany to exhibit at Hiemtex, a home textiles trade fair.

Delbanco Meyer

Bed Bath and Table

After finishing her placement year she went on to complete her 4 year degree at University of Brighton in the year 2000. After her degree she was offered a permanent postion designing for Gilbey and Cheyne.

"I just want to make reference to Louise Gilbey, an amazing woman, mother, and dear friend who gave me the break I needed to help me to become a designer, and continued to help me develop my skills for many years to help launch my career and let me do something that meant so much to me- to become a textile designer. She helped me achieve my dreams, and that means so much" says Kirsty. "She helped me get my next big break, an opportunity to move to Australia and start my dream job. I was living the dream!" says Kirsty. "but I couldn't have achieved any of this if Louise hadn't been there as my supporter and mentor."

Kirsty had told Louise she'd like to travel with her work so when exhibiting at a Paris trade fair an Australian Company called KAS Australia approached Louise and saw the potential in Kirsty's work. They offered her a job to come join their team there designing bedding and cushions in Sydney, Australia. Of course Kirsty could not turn down this offer- so off she went, on a new adventure, a new opportunity, that would carve the direction of her work for the rest of her career. Her time there started in 2003 and Kirsty continued to produce designs in the home sector- designing the companies best selling product to date at the time, and she continued to design many best sellers for them for a further 7 years until 2009. "KAS Australia was the making of my career, and I want to thank everyone there for having the patience with me for so many years- I really grew up whilst I was over there and it was the experience of a life time" says Kirsty. "I got to travel, learn all the design computer programs, and refine my skills to another level" In Sydney Kirsty sold her work to Myer, Freedom, David Jones, Holy sheet, and Adair’s.

Kas Australia

Kirsty moved back to the UK after 4 years in Australia and continued to work for KAS for a further 3 years. She then felt it was time to start her own brand, so in 2009 Koodle Doodle Design was born, a children's bedding brand.

Koodle Doodle featured in many high street stores, such as WJ Daniel & Co Ltd, Elphicks, Cargo, Debenhams, TK Maxx, Tudor Williams, Rainbow Wood, Selfridges, Barkers Department Stores, Rackhams, Beales, Bentalls, Barrets of Woodbridge, Knights of Reigate, Eddershaws, A Space, The Great Little Trading Company and many many others. The brand sold in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Although she loved working in the children's sector Kirsty felt she needed to be designing more so she opened her Design Studio "Swatch Loft" where she could express her passion through her printed and embroidered textiles.

She also took on a variety of freelancers to add to her range, and took many students on to help them sell and develop their design work ready for industry. She worked with many companies with Swatch Loft, such as Marks and Spencers, Delbanco Meyer, Kylie at Home, Bed Bath and Table, Dunelm Mill, Sainsburys, Asda, Turner Bianca, Also Home, John Lewis, and KAS Australia. She also developed a relationship with a home wear, bedding, towel, and throw company called Deyongs, with whom she produced bedding designs for for a period of 5 years. She continued to exhibit at trade fairs such as Premier Vision Paris and Hiemtextil in Frankfurt Germany. In this time Kirsty also freelanced for Gilbey and Cheyne, Alistair Boyd and Am Creative. She would produce embroidery designs that sold across the globe. A lot of these companies asked Kirsty to do commissioned work to a more specific brief.

To become an ambassador of the textiles industry she started an exciting and informative trend magazine called "Write on Trend", and also launched "Learn 2 Design" where she would teach her skills in textiles to post graduates.

This included preparation of CAD artworks for production, embellishment and embroidery and printed textiles, focusing on improving her client’s portfolios to help them enter into industry. Learn 2 Design was an excellent opportunity to lecture in various Universities such as University of Portsmouth and the Royal School of Embroidery. She would give lectures and assist the students with many projects there and develop the students skills in textiles.

In December 2013 she became Creative Director for Shandong Wonder Group in China and was director for all UK and European Customers including Laura Ashley, Dunelm Mill, Also Home, Waitrose, and Turner Bianca. She designed printed and embroidered bedlinen for all European customers. She also managed sales for above companies and all UK clients, and worked to customer briefs. She travelled regularly to China and Australia to grow the market there, and assisted trade fairs in Germany. She also managed collections from designers from head office and worked to researched trends putting together ranges of my own and other designer’s work. She would travel to China regularly to the vast factory in Shandong, and give lectures to the design team there to teach them western design that could sell in Europe.

After designing embroidery for many years after the recession the embroidery market became too expensive to produce for bedding, so Kirsty worked hard on improving her drawing skills. She started to design print designs more as this allowed for more coverage and was cheaper for the textiles mills to produce- and digital printing had started to become a key way to print onto cotton. So inspired mainly by nature and flowers, she would produce fresh designs based on current and forthcoming trends. Her designs ranged from contemporary/directional, chic/sophisticated, and traditional to classic. She would use various computer programs to aid her with full size layouts, and printed repeats for factories to work with. A lot of her design work was created digitally, and the hand painted work could be scanned in photoshop and she would create full size repeats and panel prints. "I see a bedlinen design as a massive canvas and I loved working on large detailed design more" says Kirsty.

AM Creative

In 2014 she fell pregnant with her first child, Amelia, she was the little girl Kirsty had always dreamed of having. "Although I was fully focused on my career sadly my dream of being a mum was left a little late!" and although sadly things hadn't worked out well with Amelia's father as a single mum she still continued to work in textiles, designing for Deyongs 1846, and working as Creative Director for Nimsay Ltd Fashion and Home and designing bedding for Vistex a textile supplier in Pakistan. Sadly whilst pregnant Kirsty's father, whom she was so close to had a heart attack and passed away. "It happened right in front of me and Mum, there was nothing we could do to save him. It was the most difficult time of my life" says Kirsty. "I loved him so much and I was devastated that he would never meet Amelia". Kirsty and her mum Tina were grieving terribly, and Amelia's dad was not around to help. Kirsty gave birth to Amelia 6 months later, with her Mother and Sister Lucie as her birthing partners. Shortly after giving birth to Amelia, Kirsty met her long term partner Alistair. He was a beautiful and caring man, and he made losing her father much easier. "I missed having that male figure in my life and he softened the blow for me." Her and Alistair are still together now. She also became a second mum to her step daughter Belle, who was just 5 years old when they met. We quickly became a family. Amelia and Belle are very close!

Kirsty with Amelia

In 2018 she was offered a full time position as Creative Director Europe for Momtex Pakistan where she worked for clients in the UK such as Marks and Spencer's, JD Williams, Kaleidoscope, and many others. She would hand paint foliage and flowers and also drew in pencil, allowing a more detailed look. She did this for a year until after nearly 4 years of trying she fell pregnant with her little boy William. It was very hard as he was born in the Covid pandemic. Kirsty was heavily pregnant and trying to home school Amelia, and she had to spend the first part of her labour alone. "William totally cemented our family!" Kirsty says. "I had the family I had always dreamed of, although it was tough to start with juggling childcare and work!" says Kirsty.

William and Amelia

After taking 6 months off to have William she began her 5th company "The Blissful Pineapple" where she produced home products for children with personalisation. Despite Covid hitting she was still extremely driven and had the need to create. When she was designing William's nursery she became inspired by children's products and began to create products using her skills in embroidery.

Amelia with her giraffe!

Belle, Kirsty's Step Daughter

With each business she was learning how to create a brand, from the look of the brand, from concept to logo design. Although her brand did well on various platforms such as Etsy, the products were taking too long to create and she missed the design phase, so she decided to start an adults home wear brand "House of Norris" where she could own the copyright of each design and use it on a variety of home wear products. Deyong's, a company she had already worked with for many years that she had created many best selling print designs for showed a huge interest in "House of Norris", so we worked closely together to produce the first bedding and home collection "The Great Outdoors". This was a huge opportunity for Kirsty to be able to get her products out there. A man named Sean Cook who Kirsty had met when she was working for Delbanco and Meyer, who worked with Deyong's closely on their bedding ranges took Kirsty under his wing. He could see the potential in the House of Norris brand. "I want to give reference to Sean, he had become a good friend and was so supportive for me and he made "House of Norris" happen for Kirsty. "He saw my vision and has mentored and nurtured me through this process, making my dreams a reality" says Kirsty. "I love working with Sean, Daniel and Oliver Deyong, who really are a pleasure to design for! I want to thank them for giving House of Norris the chance to grow and emerge as a luxury brand that can be accessible to everyone"

Kirsty has currently finished the 2nd range "The Rising Moon" and her first range "The Great Outdoors" that features 6 designs- all based on animals, flowers, foliage and birds is just going into the market place now. It is all hand drawn and digitally produced on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Kirsty has designed every part of the brand from logo to signature look, and every single part of the brand, even the packaging. The brand particularly has a British feel- with British woodland and creatures, but also has many elements from nature all over the globe.

Kirsty on her first House of Norris photoshoot

Kirsty still designs for Deyongs for their own ranges still creating some of their best sellers. She also designs logos and graphics, and creates brands for private customers. She is also a complete nail technician, and does hand painted designs on her clients nails. "I have always wanted to be a nail technician and I'm in my happy place when doing my clients nails" which she matches with their outfits for special occassions. "It's a little side line of mine that I'm truly passionate about! Its called "Trendy Tips Nail Artistry" says Kirsty.

But her main focus is "House of Norris" and she is dedicated to her brand."I truly hope everyone gets behind the brand and wants my products in their home. I am living my dream, and I hope people love and cherish all the products I have worked so hard to produce" says Kirsty.

"Thankyou so much. Love from Kirsty BA (Hons) xxx"