My name is Ulrike Dievernich. I was born in 1972 in Bad Godesberg near Bonn and attended the Steiner-Waldorf school in Bonn for 13 years. After finishing school I studied Business Management and worked several years for an IT company. I first became a mother in 2002 and my second son was born two years later.
Strongly influenced by my school years and the example set by my father who, throughout his life, crafted the most wonderful things out of wood for me, my sister and my brother (our beds, dolls’ beds, boxes and a beautiful toy shop among many other things), I developed a strong passion for exquisite, hand-made items. This passion led me to try out many different things including a woodworking course in 2004 which, in turn, gave rise to the idea for my furniture knobs. It was only after much deliberation and many experiments that I was finally able to hold in my hands the first furniture knobs that I was really happy with.
As soon as I knew for sure how the knobs should look
- crafted out of beech wood
- painted with saliva-resistant, matt acrylic paint
- with a metal fixture embedded in the wood on the backside of the knob enabling child-safe affixing to the piece of furniture
I began producing the knobs in a space of around 2 square metres under the cellar stairs of the house we were living in at that time (it made me think of Harry Potter on more than one occasion!). I carried out the painting work on an old kitchen table in an adjoining basement room. Over the years my range of furniture knobs grew and I found balancing my work with my life as a mother of two little boys was really quite trouble-free.
My sons have outgrown me in the meantime and it’s only a question of time before they fly the nest. My furniture knobs are still my passion. Demand for them has grown amazingly over the years, so much so that, in 2017, I had to organise ‘more hands’ for the production. I place great importance on quality and high-class craftsmanship and therefore I placed my trust in a truly wonderful, family-run enterprise in the village of Seiffen – famous for its wooden toy making – in the Ore Mountain region. Today most of my furniture knobs are lovingly and meticulously handcrafted for me there. I am incredibly proud of these beautiful items that are regularly delivered to me in large parcels, and the joy and excitement I feel upon unpacking and inspecting the newly created products are still as strong as ever.
Over the years my furniture knobs have added a delightful, charming touch to so many nurseries and children’s rooms – and there are no signs of that stopping, both here in Germany and abroad. I am infinitely grateful to be able to carry out this work and make the world a tiny bit more beautiful.
Yours