In bloom: the future of faux flowers with Ett Hem London

Tired of constantly refreshing the vases in her home, Elena King, the co-founder of the “forever flower” company Ett Hem London, set out to find the most realistic faux blooms she could. After nearly a decade at John Lewis, where she climbed the ranks to Senior Fashion Designer, Elena used her expertise in sourcing suppliers worldwide to launch her brand two years ago. Meaning “A Home” in Swedish, ‘Ett Hem’ is a nod to her husband Robin’s native country and chimes perfectly with the beautiful environment she’s adept at creating. 

As her wonderful garden maisonette in London Fields comes to market with Aucoot, we spent the afternoon with Elena and her golden lab Max, as she talked us through taking on Buckingham Palace as one of her first customers, fleeting beauty and how emotional our connection to flowers can be.

But first, “There are pros and cons to both,” says Elena, referring to the debate between fresh and faux flowers. “I adore fresh blooms. The beauty really lies in the fact they don’t last forever.” But, she notes, “You have to replace them every week, and the cost is astronomical, especially for large institutions like the royal households.”

Just as she was getting ready to launch, a well-connected friend suggested to The Royal Opera House that Ett Hem London could help to reduce its floristry budget and carbon footprint. Having learnt of the sustainable but beautiful arrangements they created, Buckingham and Kensington Palace quickly followed suit and commissioned displays. Nearly three years on, Elena is still surprised by the instantaneous success. “Honestly, I didn’t expect it to take off so fast. It just snowballed, and suddenly I had a full-time job and business without even realising it!”

It’s taken some time for Elena to find a balance between both careers, “Once you start employing people and you work with really big names, you can’t stop the train,” she explained, “It feels easier now because I understand the customer more, whereas at the beginning, I had no idea what to do, and had to figure it out on the way.”

A huge part of the success lies in the strikingly lifelike look and feel of the flowers. Rose petals are velvety soft, while the masterfully curated, colorful bouquets appear to the naked eye as real as the genuine thing. The only difference, Elena points out, is the scent: “That’s the only sensory element that’s different. In terms of touch, with today’s technology, they feel real.” 

Luxurious hotels including the Mandarin Oriental and The Ritz use Ett Hem London alongside fresh-cut flowers as part of a more sustainable approach to their floral displays. “They want the fresh flowers front and center, and then we’ll create larger arrangements in the background,” Elena explains. “It’s the same for weddings. People want the flowers on the tables closest to guests, to be real.”

Peppered throughout her Hackney home, which also doubles as the backdrop from many of Ett Hem London’s stylish photoshoots, the flowers and foliage blending beautifully with the elegant, calming palette. And while flowers have always had an emotive presence, they can be part of life’s happiest moments, but also the saddest. 

“I was at a wedding in Cape Town when a girl from Norway came up to me and said, ‘Thank you so much for bringing this into the world,’” Elena recalls. “Her father had passed away a year earlier, and everyone had sent her fresh flowers. Of course, they had all died, and she was heartbroken. She told her friends and family never to send her fresh flowers again, and eventually went on a search for design-led faux flowers and that’s how she found us. That’s why we do what we do, because it truly makes a difference.”

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