Jade Waller is a celebrated home styling expert, interior and lifestyle columnist – and Essex through and through. Absolutely meets her
Jade Waller on Interior Styling, Home Trends, and Everyday Luxury
Did you always take an interest in your home surroundings when you were growing up?
Absolutely! It was always part of my make up. I loved decorating shows as a kid. Whilst others were obsessed with kids shows and girls mags, I was always watching Changing Rooms and flipping through the pages of Ideal Home. I grew up with humble beginnings, but my Mum always ensured our home was presentable and although we weren’t wealthy, she always kept a nice home and looking back, I can see how important that was to her and absolutely became part of me.
We would drive down the fancy London streets looking at all the large, beautiful homes, you know, those ones with the huge windows and big stoops leading up to the beautifully lit front door. We would drive past and peer through the windows from the car as I used to love to get a peek of how they dressed their homes!
When did your interest in interiors start forming into a specialism?
I’d say for me a turning point was when people would ask me to help decorate or style their homes. At first it would be family members or friends, but then it would be friends’ parents and so on and I one day I thought to myself, I guess I’m quite good at this! Interiors isn’t just the physicality of how a home looks, it’s a feeling. I think that the key to creating the ideal space for someone is knowing how they want to feel in that space and transforming that feeling into vision and then creating it in physical form. That’s always been my strength: people. I get people, relate to them and understand how they want to feel in their homes. That’s the key.
I was helping others decorate, design and style, and I thought I’d love to share these ideas with a larger audience. Not only that, help them achieve a space that feels beautiful to them especially if they didn’t have access to a huge budget. That was when my page really started to take off as people appreciated and loved seeing how you could create looks for less on the high street and by being more frugal.
What do you think it is about your advice that people love?
My advice is relatable to the everyday person because I am her. I’m the busy mum, I work, wear many hats and must juggle it all. I’m also not a millionaire either! My home is relatable and the way I style it with a mixture of high street finds, charity and antique gems with a little touch of luxury is really the balance most people want to achieve, and I think I deliver that through my content very well.
What kinds of things are you looking to pass on to the public?
Overall, I want to inspire them to look at their homes and realise it should be their sanctuary. It’s not about the size, renting or owning, it’s about knowing you can create a beautiful space regardless and I hope by finding me they find inspiration to do that. I ask people to really analyse how much time they spend at home. For most of us it’s a pretty high percentage, so I always encourage people to try and create a space that impacts their overall wellbeing in a positive way. It’s so important.
When it comes to your own style at home, how would you describe it?
I would say my style is modern rustic. Our home is quite new build “boxy” and I’ve tried to incorporate my style into the home without making huge structural changes as we haven’t had the budget for that. I love natural elements like wood, stone, ceramic and marble, so choosing furniture pieces that include those materials has helped to create that ambience without spending a fortune.
Are there certain elements of your interiors that you always have to have?
I love flowers, branches and stems and include these within every room of the house whether that be from foraging or from flower markets. It makes my house feel like a home and something I love to spend my time doing.
How long have you lived in Essex for and what do you love about it?
I’ve lived in Essex most of my life with my family originating from East London. I love its versatility. You can go on country walks in the most gorgeous woods, find nature trails and farms as well as heading out to the coast. I love that most about Essex. It can be enjoyed throughout all seasons and really encapsulates some of the best things about being British.
What kind of home trends do you expect to see in 2025?
I think 2025 will be the year of the bold. Furniture as art, rich colours and tones as well as lots of texture. Minimalism will take a welcomed warm turn, and people will be looking to create cosy, comforting spaces that feel like a warm hug. I love that people are experimenting more with vintage and antiques and I am hopeful this continues way into 2025 and onward. Bring on the treasure hunt!
Why did you evolve to also offer advice on building women’s self-confidence?
If there’s anyone in the world that needs a confidence boost – it’s a woman! We have it so hard. From the beauty industry always moving the goal posts, social media brainwashing us into believing women with perfect bodies exist and most of our surroundings pointing towards our appearance can make us feel like crap! This is why having a platform and sharing the real and embracing it is so important. I won’t take full credit though. I’ve seen a huge increase in other female creators also using their platforms to send the same message and I am so glad to see it. I want women to know they are beautiful warriors who deserve to feel free to enjoy their bodies. The more we stick together and build each other up the stronger we become. There’s no hood better or more inspiring than womanhood.
What does the rest of 2025 hold in store for you?
I hope to continue to reach and inspire as many people as possible, to create beautiful spaces, embrace their beautiful bodies and be kinder to themselves and have lots of laughter and fun along the way. I will be working with charities and young people that will make some dreams come true this year which I’m so excited about. Work wise, I want to grow my brand within the media industry and hopefully make it onto your TV screens helping people across the UK bring their home visions to life, so watch this space…
Follow Jade @feel.at.home.inspo
