A Stay at Ett Hem Stockholm designed by Ilse Crawford
I have wanted to stay at Ett Hem ever since it opened in 2012, after a 6 year renovation, which transformed this Arts & Crafts house into a 12 bedroom hotel, so please bare with me while I gush and try to paint a picture of why this small hotel is so special and has been given a "Worlds small luxury hotel" award.
Let me also give you a little background info into why I so wanted to stay at this hotel. One name Ilse Crawford! Ilse Crawford for anyone who doesn't know her is a half Danish, British born interior designer who launched Elle Decoration in the UK in 1989 as it's editor. That incidentally was the year I bought my first house with my soon to be husband and Elle decoration quickly became my bible and everything Ilse recommended the gospel to me. She is the sole reason I later studied Interior design at University and qualified as an interior designer.
In 2003 she established her design business Studio Ilse, which designed the Soho House hotels and clubs at that time. Opening Babington House and Soho House New York amongst others. She's also designed a hugely successful iconic Sinnerlig range for Ikea and pieces for Danish silversmiths Georg Jenson.
Soho House New York
Sinnerlig range for Ikea designed by Studio Ilse
So after listening and learning from everything Ilse Crawford has said or done for the last 35 years you can imagine when it came to celebrating a very big birthday this year, the place I wanted to visit was Stockholm and to stay at Ett Hem.
Ett hem is very hard to describe in words, as it's all about atmosophere. The name means "A Home" and the owner Jeanette Mix employed Ilse to work her magic making the hotel feel very much like you are staying in a private house. Each room is decorated differently with an eclectic mix of contemporary designs and vintage Scandinavian furniture. There are bright and bold textiles, beautiful lighting and candles giving an ambience to every room, music being played everywhere and a baby grand piano and guitar in one of the lounges which guests are encouraged to play. There is no formal reception area, bar or dining room. Guests pour their own drinks from honesty bars dotted around the house and can eat where ever they choose. In the garden, in the kitchen watching the chefs prepare the food, or in any of the lounges or informal dining areas.
The bedrooms are well considered too with electronic canopies outside which react with the sun to keep the room in shadow, complimentary luxury skin care by Verso and the house perfume created by Fueguia are left in the bathroom for guests to use. There is a yoga mat and dyson hairdryer, linen robes and slippers in the wardrobes and a yoga room, gym and sauna located in the basement for guests use.
The little touches I appreciated, as an interior designer myself, were the simple but thoughtful elements such as a traditional fold away travel alarm clock by the bed and a Georg Jenson silver vacuum jug of iced water placed by your bed in the evening. Both are, I presume, to encourage you not to look at your phone or open the fridge in the room in the middle of the night and disturb your sleep with strong light hitting your eyes.
There are menus available in the hotel, but the chefs can make you anything you fancy eating, providing they have the ingredients, and there is a seasonal menu of small plates which we chose. Every course was prepared using seasonal and local produce, including strawberries and rhubarb which were used in both sweet and savoury ways, lots of fish, some cured, come cooked and meats. Both the bread and butter were made on the premises. It was sublime and I'm still thinking about it now!
Our bedroom and all the public rooms had a wide range of coffee table books to read, including some of Ilse Crawfords design books, art, fashion and photography books. There are bikes you can take out to explore Stockholm and later in the evening, after dinner, there is a garden or glass houses you can sit and take your drinks into and wait to see the midnight sun. In the summer when we were there, the sky gets ever so gradually duskier until just after midnight when it goes dark for a few hours until the sun starts to rise again. Summer in Stockholm is endless light skies. The staff light fire pits and there are baskets of cosy blankets dotted around to keep the midnight chill from you. The glass houses twinkle with festival lights strewn across the ceiling and candles twinkle on the table tops.
We took breakfast in the garden which is in the centre of the two houses the hotel owns. The Arts & Crafts house next door was bought in 2022, extending the hotel to twice the size, but still intimite enough to feel like a beautiful home from home.
Again breakfast was healthy seasonal and local. Great home made yoghurt with fruit, fresh salad, meats and cheeses, home baked bread with eggs, fresh juices, good coffee and any type of tea you prefer.
I dream of going back in the Winter for the Christmas markets in Stockholm. I can only imagine how cosy the hotel will be with all the open fires lit and a multitude of candles burning and the Winter seasonal menu would be amazing.
If you would like to read more about Ilse Crawfords design philosophy, she has a few books available. Some that I have had for years and return to time and time again are Sensual Home & Home is Where The Heart is. Available from resale sites.
A more recent book which is more readily available is A Frame for Life.
