Ever since Margot profiled the Edinburgh apartment of Nina and Craig Plummer—the designers and shopkeepers behind Ellei Home, then called Ingredients LDN—we’ve returned to its quiet, refined simplicity. In addition to their fairly new studio space, in a 19th-century Renaissance-style building formerly used as a church hall, the duo photographs all of their offerings in situ in their flat, and every detail is designed with this in mind: lime-washed walls for a neutral, evocative backdrop, a kitchen island on casters for easy maneuvering.
Recently, on returning again to the post, we noticed something else about the space: a definite Shaker inflection in the kitchen. Fitting, since Nina told Margot at the time: “We like to think that if we use our values to shape our homes, our homes will, in turn, shape the life that unfolds within them.”
Join us for a look.
Photography by Nina Plummer.
Above: Elegant twin doors lead into the cook space. Though they look original, they were custom made by the couple’s carpenter, borrowing the patterning on the Georgian interior shutters, and paired with “the only pieces of original hardware left in the house.”
Above: Previously, a tiny kitchen and dark bath had occupied the space; now, with walls removed, there’s ample space for deVol’s Sebastian Cox kitchen and a moveable table and chairs by the built-in banquette. And plenty of natural light, too.Above: In lieu of upper cabinets, a Shaker peg rail, sourced from a small-batch British maker on Etsy, stretches the length of the kitchen and holds scrub brushes and mugs by the sink and trivets and cookware by the Smeg range.
Above: A coffee setup next to the stove. (The Fluted Utensil Holder is currently sold out.)Above: The countertops are honed Carrara marble, which will age with time (and makes an excellent photo shoot backdrop).Above: On the opposite side of the kitchen, a not-too-precious antique French bread cupboard nestles up against the Smeg fridge. The kitchen walls are done in waterproof Marmorino Venetian plaster, and the gray candle is a Dutch design.
More glimpses of the couple’s kitchen and flat can be found by perusing the shop or the @elleihome Instagram feed.
For more Shaker peg rails put to use in the kitchen, see:
