OUR WORK.
we are a team of diligent carpenters who create wonderful products with creativity, energy, and a love for materials.
in our carpentry workshop in Bad Zwischenahn, we primarily create individual furniture pieces and complete
kitchens and
kitchen furnishings. The planning and construction of individual kitchens have made our carpentry workshop well-known far beyond the Ammerland and Oldenburg regions over the past three decades. We rely on artisanal expertise, high-quality materials, and a design process that is precisely tailored to your wishes and ideas.
in addition, you can get any conceivable custom-made furniture from us. whether living room furniture, bathroom furnishings, wardrobes, sideboards, dining or living room tables, cabinets or display cases - we create your desired custom furniture. there are no limits to your wishes.
every now and then, we take the time to create first-class
boards and
kitchen utensils, which impress with their highest functionality and unique design.
with much sensitive craftsmanship, we create cutting boards as tools for your preparation of fine dishes and as accessories for a stylish ambiance from wonderful material.
the kitchen is a workshop for one of our most valuable activities:
the preparation of healthy, flavorful meals.
it is a personal joy and passion for us to carry out these tasks in the kitchen with high-quality tools and traditional craftsmanship.
as Garrelts design studio and carpentry workshop, we offer you a selection of unique kitchen boards and other products, each of which is a one-of-a-kind piece. our range now extends from a wide variety of cutting boards, the so-called echtbrett (real board), to hand-turned pepper mills, salad servers, breakfast boards, and rolling pins, as well as trays and candlesticks. our products are always special unique items, all created with precise craftsmanship in our own woodworking shop in Ammerland.
differences in wood type, grain, size, and weight ensure that every piece of wood we handle becomes a unique item with an unmistakable character.
a unique piece of nature becomes a wonderful aid for your kitchen under our expert hands and eyes. in the following, 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 apprentice, now wood technician
since 2024 – paulhans schoess from oldenburg, the current apprentice
since 2017 – max garrelts from oldenburg, behind the digital scenes
since 1995 we have trained these people to become 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, daniel gerken, jelde steffens
THE BOSS.
since 1993 – hergen garrelts from ekern
1963
born in oldenburg
1986
journeyman's examination as a carpenter
1987-1988
living and working on spiekeroog
1988-1992
studied product design with prof. g. böckelmann and manfred schellhorn at the fh hildesheim
1991
journeyman's examination as a woodturner
1992
graduated as a diploma designer
since 1992
working as a freelance designer and craftsman. member of the working group for arts and crafts and design in lower saxony and hanover. participated in numerous exhibitions
1993
establishment of workshop and studio in bad zwischenahn-ekern
since 1994
member of ako – working group for arts and crafts oldenburg.
organizer of "designvomdorf."
since 1997
teaching position at the werkakademie for design in crafts
lecturer for perspective and freehand drawing
since 2003
co-organizer of the "nikolaimarkt oldenburg"
since 2007
chairman of the ako – angewandte kunst oldenburg e. v.
2022
awarded the „lower saxony state prize for creative craftsmanship 2022“
2024
member of the jury for the lower saxony state prize 2025
2025
member of the jury for the "manufactum" state prize north rhine-westphalia 2025
2025
we are organizing "designvomdorf." for the 30th time.
film contribution to the state prize:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV5BFyJYNXY&t=16s
OUR WORKSHOP.
the essential foundation for the high quality of all our products is created in the workshop. in the heart of the village ekern, in the side wing of an old farmhouse, we build everything from kitchens to salad servers with first-class craftsmanship. the premises on the old farm with its modern extension already embody our company philosophy: timeless design through traditional, high-quality craftsmanship. here on the farm, the entire design and production process takes place, from the first sketch to the final polish. in addition to the woodworking shop, our carpentry also has a small showroom, our studio, where interested visitors can take a look at our products. this is also the place where designvomdorf takes place annually on the first weekend of november. feel free to visit us!
MATERIAL AND WOODS.
whether for kitchen construction, furniture construction or the production of boards, candlesticks, pepper mills, trays and other products, we place the highest value on outstanding quality of the materials used.
in addition to our commitment to quality, we place great importance on timeless and practical design. our material selection is derived from these principles.
in kitchen design, we predominantly use a mix of solid wood, robust black steel, durable stainless steel, and sustainable linoleum.
in our workshop, we mainly process the following woods: oak, ash, cherry and walnut. we are happy to fulfill special wishes regarding the wood. however, we generally refrain from using tropical woods.
SUSTAINABILITY.
when selecting materials for our products, we place great emphasis on the highest quality and sustainability. therefore, we fundamentally refrain from using tropical woods and chipboards.
furthermore, we avoid lacquers and generally try to minimize the use of plastics in our workshop.
our boards are exclusively made from solid, unglued wood and ecological oil. in kitchen construction, we also optimize our joining methods so that screw connections predominantly minimize adhesive consumption to enhance recycling properties.
an equally important aspect in terms of sustainability is the idea of longevity. timeless design and the highest quality of workmanship ensure that our products bring 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 therefore we have been supporting the "BUND Ammerland" for several years with donation campaigns launched in connection with our "designvomdorf". with the support of our "designvomdorf" guests and the "BUND Ammerland", we were able to financially support a new orchard in Ammerland (Jeddeloh 2).
COMMITMENT.
in addition to our responsibility towards our team and our customers, we also try to contribute to and engage with society. against this background, we attach great importance to the training of young and aspiring individuals in the carpentry trade. we support our apprentices both on a craftsmanship and design level. furthermore, hergen garrelts has also been actively involved in the Ammerland carpentry guild for many years and annually supervises the "die gute form" design competition in Ammerland (BBS Ammerland). as preparation for this competition, he also regularly offers design lectures at the Ammerland vocational schools.
another concern of ours is regional environmental protection. for this reason, since 2017, we have regularly organized sustainable fundraising campaigns at our designvomdorf., which then benefit the BUND for environment and nature protection Ammerland (BUND). thanks to your willingness to donate, over €2000 have already been collected for regional reforestation projects. at the last designvomdorf., thanks to our visitors, we once again collected over €500 for the BUND. we were happy to round this amount up to €600 and presented it to the BUND board (see photo with ingrid schilling and susanne grube). this money will soon be used for planting various hedges in Ammerland.
