ABOUT US
Welcome to fresh-simplelfie.com
We’re a husband (Eli) and wife (Mia) team that lives for “homey details that stick”—the kind of decor and lifestyle pieces that don’t just fill space, but make you smile every time you walk in the room. Here, you’ll find hand-stitched linen pillow covers we sew late at night after our two kids (Jesse, 5, and Lila, 3) go to bed, curated vintage kitchenware we hunt for at Midwest flea markets (think retro enamel mugs, worn wooden cutting boards, and tiny ceramic salt shakers with hand-painted flowers), and small-batch soy candles we pour ourselves—scented like vanilla and cedar, just like the cabins we visited on our first trip together. We’re also growing our little boutique to hold more of what we love: cozy knit throws, hand-pressed botanical prints, and even tiny wooden toy cars we sand smooth for families who love “slow” play.
Eli and I first met at a small-town bookstore café in Des Moines, Iowa—a place known for its rainy-day charm and shelves full of used books. He was working there part-time, fixing up the old wooden bookshelves in the back; I was browsing for cookbooks and spilled my coffee on a vintage recipe card he’d just found. We spent an hour laughing while we dried it off, and by the end, we were swapping stories about how we both hated “mass-produced stuff” that felt like it had no soul. That was six years ago, and we’ve been collecting, creating, and making “soulful home pieces” together ever since.
What drives us? Three things, mostly: making things that last (our linen pillows are stitched with double thread so they hold up to Jesse’s pillow fights; our vintage mugs are checked for chips twice before we sell them), lifting up other small creators (we stock hand-woven dish towels from a grandma-and-granddaughter team in Nebraska and hand-carved wooden spoons from a retired carpenter nearby), and keeping “warmth” at the center—no cold, fancy pieces here. Every item in our shop, whether we made it, found it, or curated it, has a little piece of our days in it: the sound of Jesse’s laughter while we sew, the smell of Mia’s coffee while we sort vintage finds, the quiet of nights when we pour candles together.
We love this work—even when Lila “helps” pour candle wax and makes a tiny mess, or Eli spends three weekends fixing a cracked wooden cutting board until it’s good as new. And we hope our pieces help make your home feel like the kind of place where everyone wants to gather. We’re always learning: next, we’re trying our hand at hand-painting small ceramic planters (Jesse wants to add dinosaur stickers to some—we’re letting him). So keep us in mind, and tell a friend who loves cozy, intentional home stuff… or just wants to support a family that’s doing what they love.
Thanks for stopping by fresh-simplelfie.com and looking around. Maybe you’ll find that one piece— a soft pillow for your couch, a retro mug for your morning coffee, a candle that makes your living room smell like home—that turns “house” into something more. Every time someone buys from us, we do a little happy dance (Jesse usually spins in circles while we clap).
With thanks,Eli and Mia