How cute is that. Evelien Beentjes (28) paints and decorates furniture for babies and small children. With her company Eefsmeubeltjes she makes colorful birth seats, memory boxes, balance bikes and more. “I don’t have to advertise because I already have enough to do.”
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Evelien’s company started in her own words as a joke six years ago. “A friend of mine had a baby. Then I made her a chair inspired by the birth announcement. I put that on facebook and then all kinds of friends came to me and asked if I could make something similar for them. Now I put my furniture on Instagram and I get requests from all over the country. So something small and funny, which I like to do, has grown into a real company.”
Paint
She gets most of the furniture that Evelien refurbishes and paints from Marktplaats. There she searches for old children’s furniture that she sands herself and primes. Then she paints the furniture in a color of her choice and puts the name of the child and sometimes a drawing on it. “I’ve been painting and drawing since I was young and it’s actually what I love to do most. From there I rolled into making furniture. Now I make one or two a week.”
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Energy
“Fortunately, I only get nice reactions from my customers,” Evelien continues. “That’s why I get so much energy out of it. In the beginning, when I sold my furniture, I only wanted to remove the cost of my paint. Then people said: you are way too cheap. They are so much fun and you will put hours of your time into them. Now I have adjusted the price to the current time, but I still don’t want to make them too expensive. It should remain something that you can give as a present.”
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Teacher
In addition to her company, Evelien is a teacher for group 5 of primary school four days a week. “I enjoy seeing how children grow and develop. Painting is my talent, but you also see so many talents in children. I do something creative in my class every afternoon. When we go to paint or draw, I join in. Then the children say: wow teacher, you can do it really well. There are now also a few mothers who have ordered a piece of furniture from me because their child was so enthusiastic.”
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The future
Although Evelien is now receiving almost too many requests, she has no intention of stopping as a teacher. “I am a social person and like to have people and children around me. I love to paint alone, but I wouldn’t want to do that every day. Moreover, I have to make my furniture more expensive, otherwise I can’t afford my house. I’d rather not. Maybe I’ll work one day less in the future, but I don’t want to make this company my main job.”