It seems so simple, the concept of taking a hand-carved printing block and essentially stamping a design onto any one of a plethora of desired materials, from linen napkins and tea towels to pillow fabrics and wallpaper.
As simple as the idea is, the booming business that Millie Burke has created from that starting point proves that simplicity can be a beautiful thing.
Launched in 2011 while Burke was in the midst of raising two small children, Lowcountry Linens began with a focus on block-printed linen fabrics, pillows and kitchen towels. At the time, Burke had recently taught herself the ins and outs of creating printing blocks, having been captivated by block-printed vintage textiles from such designers as Fortuny, a Venetian brand that gained fame in the 1920s. “I never thought of myself as a carver or sculptor but, in essence, that is what you become when you create a block tool,” says Burke, whose career was spent working in real estate for Marriott before leaving corporate life to start a few businesses, all of which were related to interior design and product development that sold to companies like Ballard Designs and Anthropologie.
Burke’s design process is what you might expect from hand-carving a block print and, unlike so many things these days, doesn’t involve the use of anything computer generated. “First, I create a sketch, and that original sketch is transferred onto a soft rubber material, then hand-carved into the material,” she explains. “While I have the sketch to guide me, I’m sort of winging it when it comes to the depth of each cut and how much pigment transfer will go where when the block is pressed into fabric. It’s a lot of trial and error, as is any artistic pursuit.”
The creation of the design itself is, to quote Burke, so very random. “Sometimes it seems to be rooted in locales close to my heart,” she says. “Other times, I’ve literally had a dream of a design, possibly inspired by something I saw that day. When I travel and see something new and interesting, often a design will hit me. I may see an inspirational piece in an art gallery or out in the wild.”
Living in the Charleston area as she has for the past 40 years, Burke considers the Lowcountry to be one of her greatest muses. “The Charleston churches, an architectural treasure in my own backyard, inspired a collection of church sketches that, arranged in matrix, spawned a wonderful wallpaper we named ‘Holy City,’ which is available in lovely, soft colors as well as bold black-on-white or parchment, with textural options of grasscloth or flat, clay-coat finish,” she says. “Once, I spotted a beautiful weeping willow tree in Downtown Charleston, and a few days later, with help from my graphic designer son, it became a wallpaper. The Lowcountry is very inspirational to me and will always pop up in my designs. I grew up in South Carolina. I also lived and worked in Boston for many years, which is still a coastal area, but with a totally different feel. Both regions, along with my travels, have certainly influenced my style interests and designs. Beauty is everywhere, even in the most ordinary of scenes.”
Over the course of the 14 years that Lowcountry Linens has been in operation, Burke has carved over 300 blocks for her one-of-a-kind designs. Beginning first as strictly wholesale to retailers, mainly in the Southeast, the business steadily grew as Burke began reaching out to sales reps in different areas of the country for help with sales—a bit of business savvy she’d learned from her previous entrepreneurial pursuits. The next step was entering into trade shows in such markets as Atlanta and New York. Eventually, demand for her products became so high that she began experimenting with printing her watercolor art on her signature cotton flour sack cloth kitchen towels in a factory she contracted in India. Next came printed pillows and a new line called Wallpaper by Millie B., which is proudly printed in South Carolina. Now, Lowcountry Linens is available at retailers all over the United States, with a brick-and-mortar store on Hilton Head Island and an online store offering all of its products.
Despite the fact that she no longer hand stamps each piece, Burke’s products still begin with hand-created designs. “Our hand-cut, block-printed linens are one-of-a-kind designs, with all the little birthmarks and charming imperfection inherent in artist-carved, paint-transfer products,” she says. “Our watercolor printed linens are limited edition, same as a piece of art would be. Basically, when you buy our linens, pillows or wallpaper, you are buying my art. But my art is also functional, not just a pretty picture. Most of my wallpaper is my watercolor art, which gives the design more dimension, with visible brushstrokes revealing the weight and lines of brushes held by a human hand, unlike other papers that are completely graphic designs. Occasionally, my son will turn a piece of my art into a graphic image before he creates the wallpaper version, just for print quality in larger design repeats.”
With the company’s popularity and growth has come a great deal of media coverage, international acclaim and, of course, an expansion of the line. Kitchen and guest towels, dinner and cocktail napkins, pillows, wallpaper, painted oyster shells and note cards round out the line, offering a wide selection to fit a variety of needs and tastes. “We have designed for urban, rural and coastal customers—not just enchanting octopuses and puffer fish, but soothing, leafy botanical designs and seaside-themed toiles in corals, greens and blues,” Burke notes.
There are also holiday-themed images, prints perfect for dog lovers and many classic designs that play well with any aesthetic, including Burke’s stripe, bamboo stripe, leafy stripe and gold nailhead designs, each of which are printed in neutrals and bolds to offer a simple, understated look. Currently, Burke’s wallpaper is hanging in homes and businesses in Charleston and Hilton Head, Charlotte, Atlanta and Miami, as well as throughout New England, the Hamptons, Ohio, Kansas and even as far as Italy and Canada.
As she continues to grow her brand and strives to keep it feeling fresh, Burke also continues to find her muse in new places. “My daughter is in the early stages of developing an organic, farm-fresh food company, which has triggered my brain in a French country-inspired direction,” she says. “We have new French country wallpaper in the Wallpaper by Millie B. collection, as well as pillows and linens already in production—roosters and all! I love the casual yet elegant, humble yet sublime feel of French country, a trend coming back to life. Our collection includes warm French country reds and yellows along with those elegant, airy and refined blues of Provence. It’s interesting to me, because I think I went through a French country phase in the ’90s, and it’s a pleasure to participate alongside a new generation as their collaborations evolve in a ‘perfectly imperfect’ way. Regardless of what design we’re working on, we really focus on putting out a quality product at an affordable price. We want our customers to continue coming back for more. We love being purveyors of ‘go-to’ gift items, as we have been told so many times!” *
Liesel Schmidt lives in Navarre, Florida, and works as a freelance writer for local and regional magazines. She is also a web content writer and book editor. Follow her on X at @laswrites or download her novels, Coming Home to You, The Secret of Us and Life Without You, at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
