For me, creating a home has never been about following trends or getting everything "finished".
In fact, I'm not entirely sure a home is ever finished.
The spaces I love most are the ones that evolve slowly over time. The ones filled with stories, memories and little treasures collected along the way.
Some pieces have travelled halfway around the world. Others came from a Sunday morning car boot sale or a charity shop. Many cost less than a takeaway.
None of them match perfectly.
And that's mostly the point!
Here are five things I think help turn a house into a home with soul...
1. Fill Your Home With Stories, Not Trends
The most interesting homes tell the story of the people who live there. They feel collected rather than decorated.
Perhaps it's an old chair inherited from a grandparent, a piece of driftwood collected on the beach, a picture found at a car boot, or a handmade piece picked up on holiday. These are the things that give a home personality and warmth.
For me, creating a home with soul isn't about buying everything new or chasing the latest look. It's about surrounding yourself with things that make you smile, spark memories or simply feel right. Every thing I collect for my home makes my heart sing in some way.
After all, homes should tell your story, not somebody else's.
2. Mix Old With New
Through Jody Ellen Textiles, one of the questions I'm asked most often is:
"Do you have two cushions that match?"
And the answer is usually, No!.
No two are ever exactly the same, and that's part of their charm. Somehow they all seem to get along beautifully.
Perhaps that's true of homes too.
Some of my favourite rooms don't belong to a particular style. They combine old with new, handmade with everyday and treasured pieces with practical ones.
I love vintage textiles paired with modern sofas, handmade pottery mixed amongst habitat plates and old furniture living happily alongside contemporary pieces.
Nothing needs to match perfectly. In fact, I think homes become far more interesting when they don't.
Perhaps that's what gives a room its personality. Not a carefully planned scheme, but layers that have evolved over time.
A home with soul should feel collected, comfortable and uniquely yours.
Because beautiful homes aren't built by following rules. They're built by living in them.
3. Celebrate Imperfections
One of the things I love most about old textiles and handmade pieces is that they carry signs of the lives they've already lived, stories we can imagine and a past only they know about.
A faded patch on a rug.
Bits of old wallpaper or plaster coming through the history old walls ..
A repair stitched into a Kantha quilt.. the many many years of stories it has
A slightly wonky bowl.. or wonky anything!
The gentle wear on an old wooden table.. an old love note scratched in to the wood.
None of these things are flaws to be hidden. To me, they're part of the beauty.
Many Kantha textiles are made from layers of old saris, lovingly stitched together and given a second life. Sometimes the mending itself becomes the most beautiful part.
Perhaps homes are the same.
They don't need to be perfect to be beautiful.
In fact, I suspect the most soulful homes are the ones that have been lived in, loved and allowed to age gracefully.
4. Add Personality, Not Perfection
I've always believed homes should reflect the people who live in them.
Favourite books and magazines
Family photographs... lots of them
Art collected over the years.. including your own kids paintings..
Many many days spent wandering up and down the beach looking for shells ..
A quirky sign that makes you smile.
Objects that probably don't make sense to anyone else but mean something to you.
These are the things that give a home personality.
Not perfection.
Because the homes we remember aren't usually the most immaculate ones.
They're the ones that made us feel welcome.
Warm lighting, layers, memories and little touches of humour often say far more about a home than expensive furniture and designer curtains ever could.
5. Bring The Outside In
I don't think I've ever met a room that wasn't improved by adding something from nature
Fresh flowers from the garden... arranged in a flower frog
A slightly unruly houseplant.. or 10!
Branches gathered on a walk
A pot of herbs on the windowsill.
Plants soften rooms. They bring movement, texture and life.
And perhaps they remind us that homes don't have to be static or perfectly arranged.
Like gardens, homes are always growing and changing.
And maybe that's exactly as it should be.
Home Isn't About Perfection
In the end, perhaps creating a home with soul isn't about getting everything right.
It's about creating a space that tells your story, reflects the people who live there and welcomes those who walk through the door.
A home that evolves slowly.
A home filled with memories.
A home that feels lived in rather than styled.
For me, that's what gives a home its soul.
Jody x
