Our STORY
ATELIER BLÅ HOUSES
A small family business in hospitality. Offering space for visiting the West Coast. Hosting events. Sharing knowledge and creativity through work and play.
Atelier Blå is all about Kindness, Creativity and Togetherness.
A life close to nature. A shared meal, humans coming together sharing ideas, quiet time, laughter and stories. Slowing down or finding a creative spark.
We are all guests here. The surrounding forests, hills and the sea is our home.
Welcome! And remember to treat each other, or local community and our lovely spot on this earth with love, curiosity and respect.
Started by chance in 2023 by Sara & Axel Bilbao. Since then we have carefully built and developed our place - day by day.
“The best jacket is the one you never buy”
OUR THOUGHTS ON SUSTAINABILTY
What is being sustainable? It’s a question we asked ourselves when we set out on our journey to create a small hospitality business.
It made us think of a few lines heard years ago: ”The best jacket is the one you never buy”.
The quote is from a former client in the fashion industry. Her role was as head of sustainability. And of course she was in a tricky position navigating between a demand for yearly increase in sales and driving change for a more climate neutral product.
Those lines have stayed with us for many years and we decided to apply that way of thinking as a rule to our developing business. And base our renovations and daily conduct on the simple principle: reuse - repair- recycle.
In the three years since starting Atelier Blå Houses we have applied this simple principle in all areas through creativity and an open mind.
In our daily work it’s about challenging ourselves, asking the right question at the moment we think we need something, or something needs to be done a certain way. Can this be done in another, more sustainable, way? How simple can we be? Can we be creative with what we have? Do we know someone who can guide us here?
So, to sum it up. We are driven by curiosity, creativity and questions. We are always evolving, challenging ourselves. We are far from perfect and can always be better. We don’t know everything. We can always be an inspiration to someone.
Please reach out to us if you have ideas to share!
Warm regards, S & A
1. Renovations. We have renovated all existing buildings using our own hands and materials such as paints from partners such as Ottossons or Falufärg. Almost exclusively reused materials. An old deck became boxes for planting vegetables. Planks from a shed became shelves. An old selvaged stone facade from a renovation in Gothenburg is now kitchen counters. Curtains and pillowcases from left over fabrics etc.
2. Land & Garden. Stones dug up from our own ground became new walkways and retaining walls. We have small scale garden for vegetables providing ourselves and our guests with fresh produce ( when we have ).
3. Materials and daily products. All our bedding is natural materials such as wool, down or cotton. All towels are very light weight. This means we can wash many at the same time and they dry fast using minimal energy ( we do not have a dryer). All cleaning products are sustainable. We make our own organic soap. Our coffee is organic from a local supplier and all waste decomposable.
4. Recycling. We have very well organized recycling stations and guides for our guests on how to recycle and compost.
5. Mobility. We offer to pick up guests for free that come by public transport. We have bikes to borrow for getting around the island.
6. Guides. We guide our guests to small sustainable alternatives for shopping groceries on Tjörn. Such as Lottas Bakery, Mölnebo Odlingar, Quo Coffee or Sibräcka Prästgård.
