|
Ellei Home was founded in 2015 with the help of my partner, Craig. Originally created as a project called Ingredients LDN, we started our online homewares store on a shoestring budget from our home, alongside our day jobs, with no experience or expertise. In the spring of 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. So we sat down to dream up ways of growing our business without a marketing budget. I wondered how I 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 journal quickly became the lifeblood of our business. In 2017, less than a year after officially launching our store, we moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, combining our home and studio space into one project. The move and renovation allowed me to fill our website and journal with images while still running our business on a very small budget. Throughout the pandemic years, we updated our name and logo to Ellei Home, incorporated vintage and antique pieces into our offering, and moved in and out of our beautiful studio down the road. After weathering the many ups and downs of the post-pandemic and Brexit years, in 2024, we took a year-long sabbatical to gain new perspectives and inspiration. Over the course of this incredible, outlook-changing year, I learned about handcrafting traditions around the world and the value and colour they add to cultures and the lives of the individuals who are involved with them. I witnessed how these traditions are being preserved and evolved, or abandoned and replaced by mass production. I also saw vintage and antique items that had made their way around the world; that had been handed down, sold and resold, and travelled across continents, binding diverse cultures across time and space. From antiques shops in the old historic centre of Lhasa to Sunday markets in Buenos Aires and Chichicastenango, I observed the flow of old things, still of value today, in an economy that preserves, reuses and circulates, generating value from what we already have. Self-taught, mostly through trial and error, over the years, I have shifted my focus away from the prevailing business tenet of growth, to allow myself to work in a way that feels aligned with my values and what I have learned from over 10 years of running a small business. By allowing this business to stay small and scrappy, I have been able to offer the kinds of products and services that only small businesses can: individual artisanal work, one-of-a-kind vintage and antique items, and a personal service where the person you speak to knows the ins and outs of every part of your order. Over the course of running Ellei Home, my aspirations have shifted away from growth toward running a personal and agile business that can flex and adjust within our changing times. Thanks to the support of my thoughtful customers, I am lucky enough to be able to run this small yet robust business that matures and evolves, and over the years has come to feel as comfortable and familiar as home. With deep gratitude to everyone who has contributed to making this possible, from our makers (those throughout time as well as those from today) to our customers and email subscribers, I hope to be able to continue to offer inspiration through perspectives and products that are a little different for many years to come. Warmly, Nina |
 |
 |