Inside the colourful home of Orlagh McCloskey, co-founder of Rixo
Northern Irish fashion designer Orlagh McCloskey’s richly decorated house in North London is layered with pattern and colour.
The way we dress and the way we decorate our homes have never felt more linked. Case in point: the North London home of Irish designer Orlagh McCloskey, where you are immediately struck by this symbiotic relationship between fashion and interiors.
“Growing up in the countryside outside Belfast in a family of four girls, I actually nearly became an architect. I was constantly redecorating my bedroom as a teenager,” says Orlagh. One half of the fashion brand Rixo (Henrietta Rix is her partner), Orlagh’s designs are known for vintage-inspired details and a cult following among the fashion crew, including Hailey Bieber and Nicole Richie.
It is no surprise then that Orlagh’s twin, Gemma, did go on to become an architect and interior designer (she is the founder of Cúpla Studio), and it was Gemma, as well as Orlagh’s husband Brook, a carpenter at Touchwood Joinery, who project managed the redesign of this new-build house that was bought straight from a developer.
“Interiors and fashion to me are one and the same, but applied in different ways,” says Orlagh. “And just as when I approach designing a collection, I love to mix and clash print and colour in the house, adding in tones that make it feel harmonious. I am very lucky that Gemma – being my twin as well as the designer of several of our shops and pop-ups – really gets this and gets me.”
From the painterly-inspired dining room to the multi-layered living area with its curved surfaces and bespoke banquette seating, and the master bedroom with its romantic yet bohemian feel, textile, print and colour inform every room in the house. “How you feel when you walk into your home is so important,” says Orlagh.
“A house has to feel good as well as look good, and for us it was all about finding a home that felt light and spacious. We wanted open-plan, and were immediately struck with the abundance of light here. We are also really social people and so having good dining and entertaining areas was important to us. I am so pleased that this house has fast become a really wonderful place for family and friends to come – we have already held parties at New Year’s and birthdays here – which is exactly how I wanted and imagined it.”
Orlagh also says a large, sociable coffee table was important to them, but when they couldn’t find anything that worked in the space, they designed one to fit: Orlagh sketching it on CAD with handyman carpenter husband Brook bringing it to life.
The same ingenuity also applies to filling the walls with art. “As the walls are so tall, I created the artwork myself. I used huge canvases that would show off the full scale of the architecture,” she says.
For Orlagh, the key to curating a family home is not to overthink it. “Buy what you need and have to have, but then save up for what you love, adding to it slowly.” For this very reason, she says she loves vintage and unique one-off pieces.
Buy what you need and have to have, but then save up for what you love, adding to it slowly.
“I was struck with the bug ever since I was a teenager,” she says. “I remember there was a second-hand shop in Belfast called Raspberry Beret, and I bought my 18th birthday outfit there. It was a lace top, which I wore with Topshop hotpants. Ever since then I have been crazy for the thrill of the vintage chase. I just love to find something unique, whether for my home or my wardrobe. I never want to
be a sheep and follow a trend.”
Orlagh also likes to be practical and versatile in her home and design choices. “I honestly think we have used every space in the house that we possibly could. We have spaces for coats, for the vacuum, for appliances, and we’ve even put the baby cot on wheels so that room can be turned into a spare if needed. We have been here five years now and we are still doing more tweaks to make it the most liveable place we can.”
Take a tour of Orlagh’s home in the gallery below.
Photography: Jemma Watts.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of IMAGE.
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