OUR WORK.
We are a team of hard-working carpenters who create wonderful products with creativity, energy and love for the material.
Our carpentry workshop in Bad Zwischenahn primarily produces custom furniture and complete
kitchens and
kitchen fittings . Over the last three decades, the planning and construction of custom kitchens has made our carpentry workshop well-known far beyond Ammerland and Oldenburg. We rely on craftsmanship expertise, high-quality materials and a design process that is tailored precisely to your wishes and ideas.
In addition, you can get any kind of custom-made furniture from us. Whether it's living room furniture, bathroom furniture, wardrobe, sideboard, dining or living room table, cupboard or display cabinet - we make your dream furniture to measure. There are no limits to your wishes.
Every now and then we take the time to create first-class
boards and
kitchen appliances that impress with their highest functionality and unique design.
With a lot of sensitive handwork, we manufacture the cutting board from wonderful material as a tool for your preparation of fine dishes and as an accessory for a stylish ambience.
the kitchen is a workshop for one of our most valuable activities:
the preparation of healthy, tasty meals.
It is a personal pleasure and a passion for us to carry out this work in the kitchen using the highest quality tools and traditional craftsmanship.
As the Garrelts design office and joinery, we offer you a selection of unique kitchen boards and other products, each of which is unique in its own way. Our product range now extends from a wide range of cutting boards, the so-called real boards, to hand-turned pepper mills, salad servers, breakfast boards and rolling pins, to trays and candlesticks. Our products are always special, unique items, all of which are created with precise craftsmanship in our own wood workshop in Ammerland.
Differences in wood type, grain, size and weight ensure that every piece of wood we hold in our hands becomes a unique piece with a distinctive character.
A unique piece of nature becomes a wonderful tool for your kitchen under our expert hands and eyes. We would like to introduce you to our outstanding team in the workshop and office.
THE TEAM.
since 1995 – Bernd Brockhoff from Ekern, carpenter
since 2006 – Andre Meckelnborg from Oldenburg, master carpenter
since 2009 – Ulrike Enders from Westerstede, interior designer
since 2013 – Jasper Kreft from Westerstede, first trainee, now wood technician
since 2022 – Daniel Gerken from Edewecht, the current trainee
since 2023 – jelde steffens from oldenburg, the current trainee
since 2024 – Paulhans Schöß from Oldenburg, the current trainee
since 2017 – max garrelts from oldenburg, behind the digital scenes
Since 1995 we have trained these people as carpenters:
aenne holtorf, hartwig germer, stefanie künkel, myriam peters, jens backhus, david schnitter, jasper kreft, stephan gerdts, peter häusler, jan deeken, janis raphael kappel, constantin wragge, christian ruprecht, simon lobmeyer
THE BOSS.
Since 1993 – hergen garrelts from Ekern
1963
born in Oldenburg
1986
journeyman's examination as a carpenter
1987-1988
life and work on Spiekeroog
1988-1992
studied product design with Prof. G. Böckelmann and Manfred Schellhorn at the University of Applied Sciences Hildesheim
1991
journeyman's examination as a wood turner
1992
graduated as a designer
since 1992
works as a freelance designer and craftsman. member of the working group for arts and crafts and design in Lower Saxony and Hanover. has participated in numerous exhibitions
1993
construction of workshop and studio in Bad Zwischenahn-Ekern
since 1994
member of the ako – working group for arts and crafts in oldenburg.
organizer of "designvomdorf"
since 1997
teaching position at the Academy of Design in Crafts
lecturer for perspective and free drawing
since 2007
chairman of the ako – applied arts oldenburg
2022
award of the " Lower Saxony State Prize for Creative Crafts 2022 "
film contribution to the state prize:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV5BFyJYNXY&t=16s
OUR WORKSHOP.
The essential basis for the high quality of all our products is created in the workshop. In the heart of the village of Ekern, in the side wing of an old farmhouse, we build everything from the kitchen to the salad servers using first-class craftsmanship. The rooms on the old farm with its modern extension already embody our company philosophy: timeless design through traditional, high-quality craftsmanship. The entire design and production process takes place here on the farm, from the first sketch to the final touches. In addition to the wood workshop, our carpentry shop also has a small showroom, our studio, where interested visitors can take a look at our products. This is also the place where the designvomdorf takes place every year on the first weekend in November. Please come and visit us!
MATERIAL AND WOODS.
Whether it is kitchen construction, furniture construction or the production of boards, candlesticks, pepper mills, trays and other products, we attach great importance to the outstanding quality of the materials used.
In addition to our high quality standards, we place great value on timeless and practical design. Our choice of materials is also based on these principles.
In the kitchen area, we mainly use a mix of solid wood, robust black steel, durable stainless steel and sustainable linoleum.
In our workshop we mainly work with the following types of wood: oak, ash, cherry and walnut. We are of course happy to accommodate special requests regarding the wood. However, we generally avoid using tropical woods.
SUSTAINABILITY.
When selecting the materials for our products, we place great value on the highest quality and sustainability. That's why we generally avoid tropical woods and chipboard.
In addition, we do not use paints and try to avoid the use of plastics in our workshop.
Our boards are made exclusively from solid, unglued wood and ecological oil. We also optimize our connection processes in kitchen construction so that screw connections are used to minimize the use of adhesive in order to improve the recycling properties.
Another equally important aspect in terms of sustainability is the idea of longevity. Timeless design and the highest quality workmanship ensure that our products will bring you joy for a very long time. In this way, we work with you to counteract the fast furniture trend.
Regional environmental protection is also very important to us and for several years we have been supporting the "BUND Ammerland" with fundraising campaigns that were launched in connection with our "designvomdorf". With the support of our guests from the "designvomdorf" and the "BUND Ammerland" we were able to financially support a new orchard in Ammerland (Jeddeloh 2).
