ett hem with laurie and graeme

stefan and i happily accepted the invite to dine with laurie and graeme for graeme's birthday celebration at ett hem; it will forever be a memorable evening.

located in a quiet residential neighbourhood, behind a brick walled gate, it is cozily tucked away.  once an old family home, it was been lovingly restored into a boutique hotel with attention to detail, beautiful inviting details.  designed by ilse crawford, whose love of textures is evident in the space.  it doesn't feel or look like a 'hotel' at all.  the name 'ett hem' says it all: at home. 

there's relaxed furniture, an honesty bar if you are lucky enough to stay at the boutique hotel, design books strewn about for perusing, a stack of board games too.  be warned, if you do stay here, you may never see stockholm because i can't imagine you'd want to leave this space.  we got to peek at the rooms, fabulous and so thoughtful!  they even have stutterheim raincoats in the foyer for their guests.  

we are so lucky that non-guests can dine at their restaurant; you can eat in the kitchen, in the conservatory, the dining room or out in the garden.  we chose the garden, it was a gorgeous night.  the food was amazing.  local and fresh, served on beautiful pottery.

the staff makes you feel so comfortable, like being welcomed into a friend's home. our waitress, caroline, was friendly and took such good care of us.  we chatted with the chef... yes, you can walk right into the kitchen and watch your food being prepared.  

we took our tea and dessert indoors, settling comfortably in the living room.  the chef baked a strawberry birthday cake, and guys, it was incredible with roasted white chocolate bits thrown in!  the space allows you to linger for as long as you like.  it was hard to go home, i think we all would have preferred to turn in upstairs. 

of course, being there with good friends made the experience all the more special.  laurie and i were giddy being in such a gorgeous environment.  i am going to miss her; she and her boys move to london today starting a new chapter in their expat lives.  i am so lucky to have met her, to have been a part of her stockholm story.  laurie has a generous heart, she's thoughtful and kind, an amazing mama - her two boys are evidence of that.  and she makes me laugh out loud.  i will miss you laurie, xoxo

thank you ett hem, you are so lovely.  i think we need a staycation or maybe move in permanently :) 

readers, do take a peek at the links for ett hem and ilse crawford, both have short 1-2 minute videos of the space, a must watch as my photos do not do it justice.