Mhairi Allan, the founder of Paper Houses Design, has spent her design career in Scotland and has found it a wealth of inspiration with an exciting creative community. Originally from Fife, she then moved to study in Dundee at the DJCAD, finally settling in Aberdeenshire where she developed Paper Houses Design - a sustainable textiles lifestyle brand.

Inspired by her surroundings Mhairi is on a mission to help improve the textiles industry. Paper Houses Design's vision is to create a textiles lifestyle brand with bold ideas and patterns whilst always striving to be better for the environment and show that eco-conscious design doesn’t need to be subtle. The everyday man-made structure has always interested Mhairi and she wanted to show their beauty to others. The FORM pattern design is developed from a sketch of concrete stairs in the grounds of high-rise Aberdeen flats. Whereas the SIGNALS collection was inspired by wires running in to the homes of Aberdeenshire costal homes. Materials used are always carefully considered, from digitally printed cotton to sourcing from Scotland linen cotton mixes. Mhairi wants the action of buying what you love to be guilt free by brands being open about how they create, and she is taking the lead in this.