An Interview With Ellie May - @petiteelliee & @apetitehome
A L T E R M E H O M E A N E C D O T E S
an interview with you ;
This weeks interview is with Ellie May @petiteelliee & @apetitehome
Where wild horses roam free amongst breath-taking countryside, Ellie May and her husband to be Alex found their dream home in the idyllic New Forest area, right on the South Coast in Hampshire.
Their home is a delightful 1930’s farmhouse style with beautiful original features, balanced with a more modern contemporary and spacious extension which offers the perfect harmony of space, light and character.
“Surrounded by nature and wild horses, it's the perfect mixture of countryside escapism but is still so easy to get into major cities like Winchester and Southampton, so we never feel too far remote.”
Ellie - best known for her fashion and style - helping petite ladies everywhere dress for their height with her new e-styling guide, has more recently been sharing her home journey of her New Forest abode. We love how Ellie has worked with the original stone floor and paired with traditional furniture in this wonderful corner of her home.
Love at first sight - Ellie & fiancé Alex in their new home; ‘as much as we fell in love with the whole house, the kitchen really was what sealed the deal for us!’
“We actually hadn't viewed that many houses before this one but the second we walked inside we both just had this feeling that we were home. I think buying a house is something so personal and although I can so easily say that it was the location, the kitchen, the original features or the number of bedrooms - at the end of the day we just knew that this was our new home and where we belonged.”
“I remember our first viewing and just being able to picture lazy Sunday mornings in that kitchen. It's something I still pinch myself about daily!” …… “I feel so lucky to have the mix of the old, original part of the property and the new extended part which gives us so much space and light.”
“…there's nothing quite like saving a beautiful photo, adding it to a mood board or a photo album to check back in on and get inspired by. ” - Ellie
We love this bedroom mood board Ellie has created - especially as it includes one of our best selling cushions..!
Taking a more nostalgic approach, Ellie finds most of her inspiration through Pinterest, …“I’m a Pinterest girl through and through’”…
creating mood boards and collecting images of her favourite interiors to ‘check back in on and get inspired by’.
Ellie note’s the shift in Instagram and the push towards video content being something that hinders her inspiration and prefers a beautiful inspiring image that can be reflected upon and studied.
“…as much as I adore seeing videos of other people's homes, there's nothing quite like saving a beautiful photo, adding it to a mood board or a photo album to check back in on and get inspired by.
I also get a lot of inspiration in person - I love countryside staycations and am forever spanning photos around the hotels because they're just styled so beautifully! A personal favourite for me is Limewood House - I always leave Limewood with a totally full camera roll from all the inspo images I've been snapping!”
(Immediately I had to look up Limewood - I couldn’t believe I’ve never heard of it before, it’s now on my 2025 list to staycation…maybe it’ll be on yours too..?)
We asked Ellie what she feels makes a house a home;
“To me, it's the little details that makes a house a home. I love walking into someone's house and being able to learn about them through their interior and their style. I'm a big believer that when it comes to houses, we are simply custodians, looking after the property for the next generations. Seeing homes as an investment instead of a shell means I treat my space around me so differently and often let the house tell me what it wants and needs. Since moving into this house, we've fully embraced the farmhouse style (a style I never really experimented with before) and understand the need to respect the house's heritage. When learning more about your house and leaning into its history and its heritage, you really start to build a home for yourself.”
A delightful view and sunny spot for Ellie’s dressing table - how wonderful to see her mood board (above) come to life so beautifully !
Whether it be the carefully curated décor choices that speak to our personal tastes, the overall ambiance that envelops us in warmth and serenity, or simply that the space offers us comfort after a long day, there is always one place within our homes that we are most fond of… we asked Ellie to share hers;
"Oh that's such a hard one! I think I would have to say our kitchen- as much as we fell in love with the whole house, the kitchen really was what sealed the deal for us! I remember our first viewing and just being able to picture lazy Sunday mornings in that kitchen. It's something I still pinch myself about daily! ”
It's always inspiring to learn more about the individuals and their homes behind the Instagram accounts we follow, and it was wonderful to learn a little more about Ellie’s New Forest house and how she has made it a home…
Your favourite home purchase?
I think I have to say my sofa - there's nothing quite like a big, oversized sofa to melt into at the end of a long day!
Worst home decision / purchase?
Ooooh I'm sure I've made many - I think the biggest regrets I always make is when I buy trend items or things purely because I've seen them online. It took me a really long time to discover what my personal interior style was and to fully lean in and embrace that. For the longest time I would get swept up in the new IT product, the new trending item and I would fall down that rabbit hole!
I would also say worst purchase was my marble coffee table because my fiancé one time went crashing into it, splitting the huge marble slab in two!!
Ellie’s favourite piece(s) from our collection?
Ellie has styled our secret garden to perfection, adding a lovely soft floral that isn’t overbearing to create a calming bedroom.
The Secret Garden cushions - I have them in our bedroom and they are the perfect addition to our bedspread. My fiancé doesn't like florals and it can be so tricky to lean into the natural/ botanical vibe without slipping into granny-ish florals, but the print and pattern of The Secret Garden is just perfect!
I also have a couple of the limited edition cushions that I adore - it's so lovely knowing you've got something special in your home and you can't shop again!
We love creating one of a kind pieces for your homes and Ellie has so wonderfully summarised the beauty of these limited edition pieces, and has styled them to perfection.
Last but not least our ending question to Ellie…
One for fun - Looking at the design / fabric of our cushions, which would you be if you were a cushion?
I think I'd be the George ruffle cushion - classic and timeless but a little bit fun hehe!!
We loved chatting and getting to know more about Ellie and her wonderful home, we have always loved Ellie’s fashion content and have really enjoyed watching how this has transcended into her home style. If you’d like to see more and follow along with Ellie & Alex’s home journey then you can head over to Ellie’s Instagram here.
Watch Ellie’s home updates here; www.youtube.com/@PetiteElliee
Thank you for reading, we hope you are loving the new interview series for 2025 on our blog & we would be so grateful if you could pop a comment below & subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about new blog posts, offers & more!!