Our Story

Our Story

Ellei was founded by Nina and Craig Plummer in 2016. Originally created in London as a project called INGREDIENTS LDN, we started our online homewares store  on a shoestring budget from our own home, alongside our day jobs, with no experience or expertise. Over the years we have slowly grown into a thoughtful and conscientious small business driven by our values and our unique approach that places a considered way of living at the centre of all that we do.

 

The Beginning

The idea for our store serendipitously came into being after an unexpected request was posed to us in 2015. We were renting a small apartment in London that we had furnished and decorated with a few simple items that made the space feel like home. As we were moving out, the tenant that was going to move in after us requested to buy our furniture down to the last decorative item, in order to keep the space as it was. We began to wonder whether there might be others who shared our approach to homemaking, with its emphasis on thoughtful and considered choices, that result in emotional as well as aesthetic experiences.

One year later, in 2016 we put the finishing touches on our virtual store and pressed launch. Inexperienced and wide-eyed we waited for something to happen but initially not much did. We started to dream up ways of how we could grow our business without an advertising budget. We wondered how we could create a beautiful and meaningful online space full of feeling for our customers to spend time in, whether they were purchasing from us or not. In lieu of an advertising budget, our images and blog posts quickly became the lifeblood of our business.

In 2017, less than a year after launching our store, we moved to Edinburgh combining our home and studio space into one project. This move and renovation project allowed us to fill our website and journal with images while still running our business on a very small budget.

 


Ellei Studio

As our store grew, we began looking for a designated studio space that would still retain the feel of home while allowing us to grow and evolve. After two years of searching, we finally found what we were looking for on the first floor of a former church hall and offices built in 1878 in the heart of Edinburgh’s historic New Town.

After a few months of making the space our own, we moved into the Ellei Studio in September 2021. We said goodbye to our name and roots in London and embraced our new space in Edinburgh with a new website and logo inspired by the history and architecture of our building. Our studio now provides the backdrop for our images and acts as a workspace that will allow us to grow in exciting new directions.

We look forward to sharing this next chapter of our journey with you.