From Humble Beginnings to Homeware Heroes: Our Award-Winning Journey!
We're absolutely thrilled to share some incredible news with you all! Our little dream, Essence Home, has been awarded Independent Homeware Store of the Year at the Innovation and Excellence awards! We're still pinching ourselves, and honestly, we couldn't have done it without you, our amazing community.
(Our Opening Day, March, 2025)
The Seed of a Dream: How It All Started
Every great story has a beginning, and ours is no different. We'd love to take a moment to reflect on where it all began.
After being made redundant, my childhood dream of owning a shop popped into mind. It seemed like a silly idea, but all I could do was try, right?
Essence Home went live in September 2024. That first day, I genuinely thought I would be inundated with orders and kept checking the website every 10 minutes. I know now that I was pretty naive in the beginning and didn't realise how much there was to learn, marketing, SEO, Google Analytics, product information, networking, finances and no one mentioned being a content creator too!!! I had to wear every hat and felt at times that I was drowning in everything I needed to know.
(October 2024, turning my bedroom into a stockroom - February 2025, Setting up for our shop opening, December 2024, Practicing our Christmas Market stall at home)
It was a hard journey, with many days spent thinking what am I doing!!
We started with just a handful of curated pieces, working out of my spare room, surrounded by boxes full of our new products. I quickly realised that marketing and networking was probably the most important thing at this time.
Our mission was always clear: to offer not just products, but sustainable products that inspire inspiration, helping you to create a home that truly reflects who you are. Every single piece we source is carefully thought out, taking into consideration how it is made, where it comes from and who makes it.
(February 2025, Styling our products at home)
On 1st March 2025, we opened our own physical store within the Lock29 family. This was another pinch me moment, as it was always the end goal to expand Essence Home, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen 5 months after launching the website.
Customer service is at the forefront of everything we do. We want you to love our products as much as we do. We love nothing more than telling you how we curated our pieces and where they came from.
This Award Belongs to All of Us!
(July 2025, Me standing in our shop surrounded by our beautiful colourful products!)
Winning "Independent Homeware Store of the Year" isn't just a win for us; it's a testament to the incredible support we've received.
To every single one of you who has walked through our doors, browsed our website, shared a kind word, or made a purchase – thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. You are the Essence of Essence.
We also want to extend our deepest gratitude to our talented makers and suppliers, whose beautiful creations fill our shelves and your homes.
This award really does make all the hard work worthwhile. It is extremely humbling to know that you love us enough to make all of this possible and it pushes us to continue striving for excellence and to keep bringing you the best in independent homeware.
(March 2025, A photo from one of our talented ceramic brands)
We're excited to announce some new collections arriving this autumn, and perhaps even a special celebration event – stay tuned for details!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Once again, from the entire team at Essence Home, thank you for being a part of our incredible journey. Here's to many more years of making homes beautiful, together!
